No Regrets, Our Sonic Youth
by Jonathan Hanemann

Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991
by Michael Azerrad (528 pp. / Little, Brown and Company, 2001)

Michael Azerrad's chronicle of the American indie music scene is a pleasure for anyone ancient enough (or at least 30) to remember when Black Flag's "Damaged" came out. There are few writers with the willingness or tenacity to sift through the debris of fanzines and lost singles in search of the milestones and precedents, and Azerrad does a commendable job in breaking down the history of the scene from the front lines.

Each chapter of "Our Band Could Be Your Life" gives a first-hand account of the bands that made American indie music what it is. His roster includes Black Flag, Minor Threat, Mission of Burma, Husker Du, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, The Minutemen, Dinosaur Jr., and Fugazi, among illustrious others.

Azerrad builds an aesthetic of the music in an almost literary fashion, methodically cross-referencing influences and time periods as if it were a sacred ritual. He is among the proud music geeks who remember what it was like to be kicked in the head at a Minutemen show and then helped up by an equally conscientious stranger.

One of the most compelling aspects of  "Our Band..." is its ability to erect a history of indie music through the telling of each band's story. Azerrad lends a verbal quality to the subject, pulling quotes from people like Greg Ginn, Kim Gordon, and J. Mascis to build a wide and personal vision of the music. There is no better way to tell the story than through the mouths of those who created it. Chapter 1 opens with a question and answer between the scene's seminal magazine, Flipside, and Black Flag's Greg Ginn:

Before indie music defined a marketable demographic, it was a sub-culture that did what it had to do to survive. Azerrad does a remarkable job at explaining the culture that engendered and was in turn influenced by  the music. There are stories no more telling  than those recounting members of Sonic Youth working as street-vendors or bands scraping together 500 dollars to press their first single. Among the most entertaining accounts are tales of bands crashing at each other's houses or the typical broken down tour van escapades. For anyone who has experienced the DIY lifestyle, "Our Band . . ." is a major feat of identification.

Yes, there are bands missing from the story. As a hardcore fan, I lamented the absence of a chapter on Bad Brains. But Azerrad is conscientious, and his book is nonetheless scrupulously researched. To the younger tier of indie music adherents (of which I am still a member), the lamenting of mainstream's co-opting of indie music is perhaps naive or heavy-handed, but the spirit of the criticism is pure. Azerrad's love of the culture is commendable. I remember what it was like to stand proud in a lonely corner with my Minor Threat T-shirt, and so does Azerrad.

Jonathan Hanemann is a freelance writer based in New York.