Before Punk Got Big

Probably the biggest attraction of "1991: The Year Punk Broke," is that it features Nirvana "before they got big." But posers beware, this movie has only a little Nirvana and a whole lot of Sonic Youth.

Filmed during Sonic Youth's 1991 European tour. "The Year Punk Broke" is an appropriately low budget tribute to the manic world of punk rock. The title comes from Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore's unwitting prophecy that "1991 will be the year that punk breaks through to mainstream American consciousness," a comment made on the verge of Nirvana's climb to rock superstardom.

The movie can basically be divided into two parts: concert footage and goofing off. The concert footage consists of approximately eight songs by Sonic Youth, four by Nirvana, two each by Dinosaur Jr. and Babes in Toyland and one each from Gumball and the Ramones.

The entire film is in eight millimeter, and director Dave Markey shoots the performances from either backstage or the audience, so there are lots of jerky camera movements and very fast pans from one band member to another. Markey somehow manages to make it all work, coming up with the visual equivalent of sloppy punk guitar. He is also helped immensely by the quality performances of all the bands.

The goofing off consists of various interviews and off-stage hijinks, all of which seem to involve Thurston Moore in some way. One notable exception is a short parody of Madonna's "Truth or Dare" in which Madonna, as played by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, is made to pay for her castigation of the well-meaning dolt Kevin Costner, as played by Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. All the rest of the bits feature the wit and wisdom of Moore, who states at one point that "my mind is turning into a huge gelatinous ball of pepper."

How you react to this movie depends largely on how much you already know about the featured bands and various other groups whose members make cameo appearances. Most of the jokes are what are popularly referred to as "in jokes." However, if you have any sympathies with the punk rock philosophy, or even if you just sort of dig Sonic Youth, "1991: The Year Punk Broke" is safe, clean fun and an excellent way to boost your "alternative" credentials.