I have often thought I should have been born ten or fifteen years earlier.  After all, being born in 1979, what business do I have saying that the Clash is one of my favorite punk bands and professing how much I adore the Replacements?  Punk was supposedly already dead when I was born.  And I was only a child in the 1980s when a network of talented underground, independent bands struggled to have their music heard in spite of the corrupted sales-minded music industry.  To truly experience this music, it was so important to be there and be a part of what was happeningat the live show, working at the record label, somehow involved in the close-knit indie circuit.

But make no mistake; although I may not have been there, this is my music, too.  The introduction states, "A lot of younger  alternative rock fans know that the bands in this book are legendary; they just dont know why, which is kind of tragic.  And finally, Michael Azerrad has provided some insight for me and others like me (who were either too young or too ignorant at the time to pay attention) into the unique movement in independent music that took place in the 1980s. Through an introduction, an epilogue, and thirteen chapterseach devoted to a different bandAzerrad shows how the do-it-yourself punk ethos lived on in the way these bands approached every aspect of their music: creation, recording, distribution, live shows, etc.  And not only does Azerrad show how the punk ethos affected their music, he shows how it spilled over into the way many of these bands actually lived their lives.   

The bands Azerrad covers in the books thirteen chapters include: Black Flag, Minutemen, Mission of Burma, Minor Threat, Hüsker Dü, Replacements, Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Dinosaur Jr, Fugazi, Mudhoney, and Beat Happening.  Azerrad does not offer too much explanation for how he settled on these particular bands when there were obviously numerous choices.  He does however mention that he decided to concentrate on bands involved with four landmark independent labels of the era: SST, Dischord, Touch & Go, and Sub Pop.  However, by the end of the book, it is easy to see that the stories of the selected bands provide an accurate and adequate depiction of the American Indie Underground of the period. 

My only criticism of this fantastic history book is the constant focus on Nirvanas Nevermind as the be all and end all of the entire American Indie scene.  Azerrad repeatedly comments on how the 1991 release of Nevermind marked both the climax and the downfall of the close-knit indie network that had developed over the course of the 1980s.  Yes, the mainstream began to feign interest in alternative music after 1991.  Yes, major labels began to cash in on this interest.  And yes, the indie community became too indistinguishable to wrap your arms around.  But was Neverminds popularity solely responsible for all of that?  They were not the first band with the DIY punk ethic to reach mainstream acclaimREM had done it a few years before, albeit not to the same widespread effects.  Neverminds astounding popularity happened to coincide with a time when mainstream music listeners grew tired of increasingly terrible music that was more and more manufactureda time very similar to the present day. 

That aside, the stories that Azerrad relates about each of these bands are so thorough and invaluable.  Through countless interviews and tireless research of fanzines, magazines, and newspapers, he managed to make the reader feel as though (s)he were there with the band, in their tour van, in their practice room, in their recording room.  At the start of each chapter, Azerrad takes special care to recount how all the band members first met one another.  He also takes care to mention any bands that formed previously which led up to the bands forming.  In the Fugazi chapter, Azerrad explained the confusing details surrounding how the DC bands Rites of Spring, Faith, Embrace, and Happy Go Licky all led up to the eventual forming of the principled Fugazi. 

By segmenting the book into thirteen chapters about thirteen bands, one would think it would lack a sense of cohesion, but this is hardly the case.  Through the stories of Hüsker Dü and the Replacements, Azerrad touched on the Minneapolis music scene; through Beat Happening and Mudhoney, the Seattle/Olympia scene; through Minor Threat and Fugazi, the DC hardcore scene and the Dischord community; through Black Flag and The Minutemen, the Southern California hardcore scene and the SST community.  The bands are not mentioned only in their chapters, and then disregarded throughout the rest of the book.  Rather, they are constantly referenced in other bands chapters, giving the reader a grasp on how the indie community functioned through each bands heavy reliance on other bands in the circuit.  The omnipresent Sonic Youth was so salient in the 80s indie underground that they are mentioned in several chapters, having exercised influence on almost every other band in the book.  They toured with both Mudhoney and Dinosaur Jr, and they were part of the SST community with Black Flag, Minutemen, and Hüsker Dü.   

The focal point of each chapter is not the music, but rather the bands attitudes about numerous issues surrounding the music.  For instance, Azerrad shows that there existed inconsistency among bands in the indie circuit regarding feelings about defecting to major labels.  While bands like Big Black, Minor Threat, and Beat Happening would never have considered it, the Replacements, Dinosaur Jr, and Mudhoney did it when the time came.  Similarly, Azerrad discusses each bands unique work ethicfrom Dinosaur Jrs signature slacker work ethic to Fugazis staunch agenda for overhaul of the entire DC hardcore scene to the Replacements determination to be average.   

The bands in Our Band Could Be Your Life did not necessarily share a similar sound or a similar work ethic.  Some bands were more punk, some more hardcore, and a few had an entirely different sound.  The common link among them all was the success they experienced against all odds.  The success is not monetary, rather it is success in terms of importance and influence.  For a band on an indie lable to achieve an audience for its music is extremely difficult, but as Azerrad repeatedly emphasizes, the alternative is a devastating loss of creativity and independence.

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