XMASTIME Rock Doc Review

BOOM A Film About The Sonics
Apple TV, 2024

It feels like I’ve been waiting for this Sonics documentary for about 100 years, so it was a little strange when 30 minutes into it the band had already broken up. I know that makes sense historically, but I was a little worried when we hit the “and then without any interpersonal drama between band members, everybody got real jobs – pilot, teacher, asphalt business etc etc - after it all fizzled out as quickly as it’d begun” part of things so quickly.

Which is silly because I can remember clear as a bell when, shortly after I moved to Brooklyn in 1998, Here Comes the Sonics was finally re-released after 30+ years and of course I wore it the fuck out at 100 Metro. I also was excited when the rumors started coming in that they’d be reuniting to tour around 2007, although watching the doc now I’m surprised they ended up doing as much as they did; I think at the time I was under the impression it was just gonna be the Cavestomp garage rock festival in Brooklyn.

Up to that point in the documentary, other than just being ecstatic to hear these songs again while imagining other people enjoying it as well, with everybody finally in on this incredible secret you’ve known about for years & years but never actually wanted it to be a secret at all, the most interesting part was just how incredibly normal these guys were despite being one of the most mysterious bands ever, owing mostly to it being the mid-1960s AND the Pacific Northwest. It’s hard to believe in today’s everything is always-at-our-fingertips world that there was even a time when:

1. The only information you could get on a band almost exclusively came from whatever little bit you could scrape off the album cover
2. Bands could have a huge regional presence wherever they were from while being completely unheard of around the rest of the country

But the big treat for me really came when the documentarian discovered that the entire reason we’re talking about The Sonics today may be because of a small-budget, mostly forgotten 1989 compilation released in Europe, Rockabilly Psychosis and the Garage Disease, which became the Johnny Appleseed of spreading the word about The Sonics back around the world.

I have a lot of room in my heart for garage rock compilations that can stick to a once-young garage rocker like myself and obviously Lenny Kaye’s Nuggets compilation is ground zero in that particular genre, but there have been a few other compilation albums over the years that had a big impact on me, both as a fan and a musician:

BURNING AMBITIONS, VOL. 1
Super Slices I First Heard Here: Boredom, 12XU, Keys to your Heart, Grip on Yourself, Baby Baby, I'm Stranded, Stranglehold

THE INDIE SCENE 1977: THE STORY OF BRITISH INDEPENDENT MUSIC
Super Slices I First Heard Here: Shake Some Action, S'Cool Days, Do Anything You Wanna Do, Whole Wide World, Sonic Reducer

And the (surprisingly extraordinarily prolific) Back from the Grave series is THE greatest example of garage rock and compilation albums coming together as one; I have the first batch I was lucky enough to stumble into allllll the way back in the 1990s (thank you Uncle Buck's in Oxford, MS!!!) and would list the Super Slices I First Heard Here to include among others We All Love Peanut Butter, The Crusher, She's Coming on Stronger.

And obviously you people know how much The Vertebrats’ Left in the Dark has always meant to me - and presumably an entire generation of garage bands - and this doc reminded me of the thrill I felt 30 years ago when after years of trying to find the original version (after knowing DT & the Shakes’ cover first) before finally finding it on the Bomp! Records’ fantastic compilation Battle of the Garages.
 
So a doc for which I started out just being thrilled to be able to share in reveling in the songs I’ve loved so much for so long ended up feeling like it was specifically made not just for me but for the Royal Me, as in thousands of other people who’ve ever had to seek out a band they love & whose best hopes were found within the vinyl grooves of a small-budget, mostly forgotten compilation album.

OH YEAH - as a bonus, it's almost shocking to hear how fucking INCREDIBLE they sounded live when reuniting after 40 years. 🤗🎸