Beulah – A Good Band Is Easy To Kill
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Documentary: C+
A cycle of Rock music programming in the form of
documentaries with music performances that are not quite Rockumentaries has
surfaced. They are “the band is
breaking up” cycle of such programs like Dig! or I Am Trying To Break
Your Heart (both reviewed elsewhere on this site). But what about if the band is not that good
and obnoxious to a point that you can see why they broke up? Such is the case with Beulah, A Good Band
Is Easy To Kill might have been better titled An Obnoxious Band Is
Always Bound To Implode. That would
have been more honest, though it has yet to happen to Oasis, unfortunately.
Somehow, the band cut four albums and ended their time
together by late 2003 touring for an album called Yoko. Instead of being about the music, it is an
exercise in watching several grown adult males regress into temper tantrums,
swear al the time, insult each other and be remarkably joyless. You know you are in trouble when they are
insulting acts more talented than they are as if they cut music that was so
exceptionally significant. They are not
guilty of this alone, as many better known acts even make grand (and embarrassing)
pronouncements about how good or important their work is. No wonder Rock is in trouble.
If the music was more likable, this might have been more
tolerable, but these guys are a disaster, though they may not have started that
way. This runs 90 minutes, but you get
the idea after 15. Definitely for fans
only, it is amazing they did not kill each other at the conclusion. The final text notes at the end prove how
half-assed this exercise really was.
Non-fans will either be amused or more likely feel ripped off. Some changes are for good.
The 1.33 X 1 taped image is lousier than expected for a
recent taping, but haphazard presentation and taping can go hand in hand. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo fares better,
yet has no real surrounds, which is odd for a recent program with Rock music. Extras include a slate of 20 deleted scenes
that deserved to be cut and a series of 17 extra music performances which
suggests there was something here a long time ago that made this band possible
that has been buried in some serious dysfunction. Too bad this program failed to find that, or they might have
found a way to cut through the garbage.
Maybe then, they could have produced something actually worthy of their
aspirations. That’s sad, but maybe
they’ll go on to do something better.
This could serve as a record of what approaches not to take.
- Nicholas Sheffo
