A Fat Wreck

A Fat Wreck tries to give a quick history of Fat Wreck Chords as it celebrates its 25th anniversary. Having grown up and listened to a fair bit of the artists initially signed to Fat the subject matter seemed like it would appeal to me.

It quickly becomes apparent that this isn't a documentary so much as it is a bunch of guys sitting around and telling stories about how they got signed to Fat and why it's awesome. It's not that the stories aren't entertaining (for the most part they are), or that the interviewees are boring (they're not), but it gets repetitive after a while. It's more or less the same format for the first 2/3 of the movie. Band A was discovered, released X number of albums, had this and that to say about Fat Mike and Fat records, move on to band B.

There's not enough in there about the current state of Fat, the current bands or anything like that. In fact, outside of the first 10 years of the label, very little attention is paid to other groups, almost unfairly.

The subject matter may have made for a better book, with the ability to absorb in small chunks of anecdotes than as a documentary.

WOW! Tbh I wasn't expecting that much; for some reason the whole puppet thing made me pre-judge it a bit. But the puppetry worked perfectly and definitely added a new dimension to the standard talking head thing. The whole film was so kinetic and really captured the energy of the music. Eye-poppingly animated and gloriously colourful album art, NES-style animations of the bands, a constant background hum of all the labels' hits...this doc is ALIVE! I was never a fan of the pop punk thing (more of a metal/hardcore guy growing up) but now I wish I had been... And interestingly enough I've been playing the one compilation I have from fat wreck chords in the car lately and quite liking it. Prbly even less of a Propagandhi fan than I was before though but I loved the anecdote about them insulting fat Mike in their booklet and him releasing the album anyway. For a drunken and drugged up rock star his lack of pretension and ego is astounding. And one of the best drug trip scenes I've seen put to film, period. Especially the audio. I'm willing to bet the guy who put that bit together has had some crazy psychedelic experiences of his own.

My gf and I watched a doc recently about Wu Tang, one of my favourite groups growing up, and it was a huge let-down. I told her this is what it should have been. A movie that captures the feelings the band inspired at the time and is put together with love and respect for their music and legacy.

Doing a rock documentary isn't easy. And this is a good example of mistakes not to be made. Basically the movie is about how fat mike is awesome (and he quite sure is), and how fat wreck chord is awesome, and how bands signed on this label love this label. There's a few anecdotes about how they met this or this band, but nothing really thrilling. The most annoying is surely the 5" samples of TOO MUCH tracks for EACH band, which makes the movie quite repetitive. I need to add that many people interviewed here are spreading very stereotyped vision of music ("that band had no chance to be signed on the label, they were too metal" whatever that means... I know this is a punk label but hey, why would a rock band shouldn't be signed if they rock?) I left the theater quite disappointed, was expecting a lot better from this.

So if anyone is using a pun, it is the movies title. Just saying - now going into the title thing: you may have been aware of the production company - I never had heard of it before. Seems like a cool group of people - even though you also get a bit of a different perspective - which is a nice addition. Including negative things or thoughts some may have - but as I said, it's a minority opinion.

Still this doing an all sides of thing works in its favor. And may make you like the people that are center stage (no pun intended) even more so ... this is an engaging documentary. And one that really shows you a whole range of things - even or especially for those who are unfamiliar with the music and the company, like I was.

If you like a bunch of people endlessly saying how clever Fat Mike is and how amazing Fat Wreck Chords is, but with little extra meat, then this is the 'documentary' for you. The puppets are a cringe-worthy lesson in awkward unfunniness. Let Them Know was a band documentary done right, with genuine insights. This is the opposite, i'd be embarrassed to show someone this.