No idea what’s up with the anagrammatic-sounding title; from the evidence of this concert anthology film, early-80s New Wave was more of a carnival than a war. Cobbled together from footage shot in various venues in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, London, and Fréjus, France, Urgh! holds together only by virtue of its enthusiasm and energy. The selection of bands is pretty catholic, spanning hardcore (Dead Kennedys), synthpop (Orchestral Maneouvres in the Dark), reggae (Steel Pulse, UB40), and postpunk (Au Pairs, Gang of Four), and the constant cutting from one act to another after a song each works against any sense of overall structure or atmosphere. But honestly one song is about right for many of these acts (e.g., Toyah Wilcox, Oingo Boingo) and too much for some (The Alley Cats, 999), and the fast pace of the movie keeps the high points arriving at least every fifteen minutes or so. Definite peaks are Andy Partridge of XTC bellowing “Respectable Street,” the Go-Gos coping with a barrage of stage divers during “We Got the Beat,” and Devo absolutely nailing “Uncontrollable Urge.” (Unfortunately, the version I saw omitted this performance by Pere Ubu, one of the flick’s most excitingly avant moments.) There’s also the pleasure of seeing a generally higher level of stagecraft than we’re used to from “alternative music” nowadays, whether it’s Klaus Nomi swiping moves from Weimar cabaret, Lux Interior of the Cramps almost ingesting a microphone, or — the film’s obvious climax — Gary Numan tooling around in a sort of bumper car for “Down in the Park.” Not a landmark in concert filmmaking like Jonathan Demme’s slightly later Stop Making Sense, but a great document of an unusually creative moment in rock history — and a little rawer and livelier than the heavily lacquered image of “the 80s” proffered by VH1 and the like. See it when and where you can; it’s apparently “unreleasable on DVD” due to licensing issues.
by Evan Kindley | Source: 35mm print
30 Nov 2008 4:28 PM | Submit Comment
