Tim previously posted on this one and then lent it to me when he was done with it, and I owe him a huge thanks for that.  I am an unabashed music freak/snob/know-it-all, and the fact that I had never read this book (published in 2001) is a tragedy.  Our Band Could Be Your Life, by Michael Azerrad (subtitled Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981 - 1991) is an amazing book.  It provides a chapter-style, documentary-like, behind-the-scenes history of a dozen or so bands that truly defined what it meant to be an indie or punk band during the 1980’s, with stories and facts that shed such a new light on each of the featured bands that I feel like a dope for thinking I knew anything about them before reading the book.  The fact that such a work could exist (i.e., a book that could provide so much unknown information to someone who thought they knew so much) is attributable in large part to Azerrad’s incredible ability to gather facts and information and then write about them as if he were there to witness what really happened.

The bands he covers (each of whom gets its own chapter) are Black Flag, the Minutemen, Mission of Burma, Minor Threat, Husker Du, the Replacements, Sonic Youth, the Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr, Fugazi, Mudhoney, and Beat Happening (the last of which, in my opinion, was a throwaway that didn’t need to be in the book and must have been included to meet a “total pages” obligation that Azerrad had to his publisher).  In any event, Azerrad’s skill at telling the stories behind these bands and the people who played in them is mesmerizing.  Put it this way:  the book is roughly 500 pages in length, and even with my short attention span, I didn’t think twice about whether I was going to read every page or not — I couldn’t wait to read whatever came next.

As for the guts of the book, the most startling thing is how it’s changed my impression of so many artists that I thought I knew.  So many of these ground-breaking artists were complete and total ***holes.  Henry Rollins, Ian Mackaye, Bob Mould, Steve Albini, Gibby Haynes, pretty much all of the Replacements — these guys do not come across as guys I’d like to have a beer with.  They come across as selfish, arrogant jackasses that I wouldn’t listen to if I’d read this book before I’d heard their music.  But that gave me a completely new lens to look through at these guys, and for that I’m grateful.  And believe it or not, not only did it not make me not want to listen to any of them, I’ve bought a bunch of their stuff because of it.  Go figure.

If you graduated high school (or were at least supposed to graduate) any time between the early 1980’s and the mid-1990’s and have any interest whatsoever in music, you absolutely must read this book.  While it tells the story of bands that truly lived the indie/punk lifestyle, it also sheds a brand new light (not always favorable) on the people in those bands.  Fascinating stuff.

Side note:  Sonic Youth seem like cool cats, and the Minutemen were the coolest band ever.  R.I.P. D. Boon, and Mike and George and Ed, how about a fIREHOSE reunion sometime?