Meet Me in the Bathroom

This was a hard documentary to rate. On the one hand the amount of video they have of these bands at the start is gold. And I felt like I was back experiencing a youth I never knew. But the documentary flow and direction is hard to pick up on and the constant dancing between bands is hard, they're all interesting in their own way however and I watched this for the Strokes but I didn't skip or lose interest for any part of the doc.

It's so good seeing bands like the Strokes and Interpol live right at the start of their careers, musically they had it right away. Also interesting to see bands like Yeah Yeahs, the rapture, Moldy Peaches and LCD soundsytem early who Didn't have it to start with... but learnt quickly and started to make good sounding music for their already present coolness. Except for that LCD soundsytem guy, he doesn't look like a rock star at all so even more props to him-workmanlike.

I dreamt of being a rockstar and playing music to get the attention and acclaim I never got from my peer groups and opposite sex when I was growing up. Watching this I'm glad I didn't get it - would've ended up more of a narcissist than I was then. It's actually incredible many of these equally screwed up folks turned out pretty okay.

Interestingly, to me this is proof that survivorship bias and luck is a thing in music as well, and like success in many arts and creative endeavours, having rich parents helps...

If you like one or more of these Bands I definitely recommend you watch.

I have been anxiously awaiting this film, and it really let me down. I wanted to feel the excitement of this time and place and as soon as I would start to, it walked it back and jumped subjects, losing any momentum. These bands defined my early adulthood, at a time when things were really chaotic. But this film was chaotic in a different and uninspired way. I couldn't tap into the nostalgia I was hoping for, and it left me really sad and almost angry because there was so much potential and it could have been so much more.

I'm also disappointed that they gave Ryan Adams any kind of screen time, while giving next to nothing to TV on the Radio. They deserve their own movie. And so does Karen O, who was a bright spot in a really lackluster movie.

As a fan of The Strokes from Day 1, this was a must watch for me. Of course, I absolutely loved it.

I never knew Albert's struggles went that deep. I learned so much about more about the band and appreciate them so much more now.

As a native New Yorker, I remember the time period when this was all going on. The city still had a special vibe to it. There was something special in the air. All of it is gone now. You basically have to almost be a millionaire to live really nice and rents are out of this world.

But for that period in time The Strokes had revived the NYC rock scene, and were on top of the world. At one point they were labeled, "the new kings of rock." Some people have even suggested that they saved Rock N Roll. Bold statement, but in my eyes, very true.

The pressure they faced after "Is This It" dropped is enough to drive anyone crazy. Julian was really tough on the guys, especially Albert it seems.

I have some love for the Yea Yea Yeahs, but mostly cause of the energy that Karen O brings. I didn't know much about how they came up, but it was very interesting to find out in the documentary.

All the other bands shown were of no interest to me, so I won't bother mentioning them.

This is a very informative watch, and pure nostalgia. The time breezes on by, no drag whatsoever. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Apologies for this write up. Wasn't really a review, just some random thoughts about the doc.

This gets a LennyReviewz Score of: 9/10.

From the mid 90s to early 2010s, NYC, particularly north Brooklyn, was known as the city to be in for people into indie music. This film tries to connect that with coverage of some key bands from the 2000 to 2005 portion of that era. It's mostly about those bands and less about the scenes in which those bands were a part.

Bands featured in order of the amount they were covered: The Strokes, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, DFA (especially James Murphy), Interpol, Moldy Peaches, TV On the Radio, The Rapture, and The Liars. There were more there during this time that weren't mentioned and obviously more after the period covered in this.

Iirc, Karen O notes how NYC started becoming too expensive and that making it more difficult for artists and musicians (and she later moved to LA and still lives there, she grew up in NJ). But some come from more privileged backgrounds and the film touches on that with some of the band members.

Although I was into all of this music then, I don't like how "indie" during this time shifted to whatever people in north Brooklyn are into. I prefer how things were in the 90s where bands from several cities got equal attention, including some pretty small ones like Athens. Some are trying to revive the era covered in this film, including the focus on NYC, because it's easy to just recycle trends from 25 years prior and pretend you're a trend setter, but it is far less affordable now than then.

Good enough doc but just seems there's far too much going on trying to navigate between 6+ bands and their individual stories. Would have been great as a 6 or 8 part documentary series. Things like interpol's second record are mentioned once for about 10 seconds. This was a seminal record at the time and was made infamous after being one of the first records to be leaked on the internet prior to release. Dunno just feel like there is so much more potential here and these bands deserved a more in depth look at their backgrounds and subsequent influence as well as the scene they created. Because if this it's one I don't think I'll be returning to.