NYC’s 2000s Rock Revolution: A Assessment Of ‘Meet Me In The Toilet’


It’s the yr 2000, Britpop’s stranglehold on the UK charts has ended. Throughout the pond, nu steel dominates and West Coast hip-hop has already conquered the globe. Over in New York, the town’s underground scene is prepping a guitar-led, indie revolution.

Quick-forward 20 years and new documentary Meet Me In The Toilet arrives to inform the story. Named after Lizzy Goodman’s 2017 non-fiction e-book of the identical identify, British administrators Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace interview key figures of the period, blended in with chaotic archive footage from sweaty gigs, events and excursions. The Strokes (whose music Goodman’s e-book took its identify from), Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Moldy Peaches, TV On The Radio, The Rapture and LCD Soundsystem all characteristic closely.

Unsurprisingly, The Strokes turn into a giant a part of the movie. We kick off with their origin story – assembly at boarding college, forming the band – and transfer on to the Decrease East Facet the place they first discovered a rabid fan base. London’s significance within the story is given area too – Tough Commerce signed them and despatched them out on tour. Then got here the press adulation (together with a run of NME covers) and their still-brilliant 2001 debut album ‘Is This It’. Sadly, the horror of 9/11 was simply across the nook and this modified New York, its bands and the world ceaselessly. It was maybe inevitable that the optimism and pleasure of the age would implode after a number of, quick years of success, particularly as soon as the redevelopment of Brooklyn and tripling rents pressured many musicians out of NYC.

The scene at a DFA Data Celebration. CREDIT: Ruvan Wijesooriya

Elsewhere, it’s a pleasure to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ magnificent South Korean-American frontwoman Karen O get loads of consideration. Her affect, then and on what got here after, is unimaginable to understate. TV On The Radio’s inclusion is to be celebrated too as additional proof that there was extra to the scene than white dudes in skinny denims. There’s additionally enjoyable available with James Murphy. We hear how Northern Irish composer and DJ David Holmes turned former punk Murphy on to ecstasy, and impressed his work as DFA information co-founder and in the end LCD Soundsystem. It’s value noting that Southern and Lovelace directed LCD live performance doc Shut Up And Play The Hits in 2012 – so that they’ve bought earlier with bringing the electro wizard’s genius to life on display screen.

You possibly can argue that the movie’s broad focus means nice particular person depth isn’t achieved. Specialists could discover little that they didn’t know already, and a few of the e-book’s most attention-grabbing speaking heads are omitted. Alternatively, skipping throughout the sticky dancefloors of early noughties indie is so satisfying that you simply in all probability received’t care. Meet Me In The Toilet makes for a energetic snapshot of a really thrilling interval in rock historical past. Veterans and newcomers alike ought to test it out.

Particulars

  • Administrators: Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace
  • That includes: Julian Casabalancas, Karen O, James Murphy
  • Launch date: March 10 (in UK cinemas)

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