Sonic Youth 1991 : The Year Punk Broke

A hallmark of alternative rock's uprising, 1991: The Year Punk Broke documents bits of Sonic Youth's 1991 European tour, which also included such alt-rock luminaries as Dinosaur Jr., Babes in Toyland, and a pre-Nevermind Nirvana. The performances are generally excellent, including a lot of classic Sonic Youth songs ("Brother James," "Teenage Riot," "I Love Her All the Time," "Expressway to Yr Skull," and "Schizophrenia") and a song or two from the other bands. Perhaps the most engaging aspect of this video, however, are the between-song segments. Director David Markey captures the various bandmembers goofing around backstage, and quite amusingly at that. Thurston Moore and Dave Grohl are perhaps the goofiest of the bunch, though Kim Gordon, J Mascis, and Kurt Cobain are awfully curious to observe. Moreover, there are a lot of guest cameos, most notably the Ramones, Mark Arm, and Courtney Love. By no means a traditional concert video, 1991: The Year Punk Broke is a fun-filled video that was filmed just before Nevermind changed the entire alt-rock landscape. A lovely moment in time 1991 was, as this very worthwhile video documents with flair. [A DVD version was released in 2011.] ~ Jason Birchmeier|