Despite these comments
being thrown at The Meanies more often than spare change at a bum on
the footpath, they are still undeniably an important chapter in the
annals of Australian rock history, and this DVD certainly shows them as
exactly that. Bursting
onto Melbourne’s world-famous live music scene in 1989, the Meanies
tore it up both on and off stage far and wide, including places as
diverse as The United States, Europe, Japan and the Diamond Creek Town
Hall. One doesn’t have to be a fan of the band or the style to have
an appreciation for what they have contributed. The colourful history
of the band is certainly a story worth telling and at just under
an hour, this documentary isn’t one of those enduring pantomimes that
talk about those sappy ‘divine intervention’ moments when they came up
with the riff of their most famous chart-topper. Although
I consider myself a fan of the Australian rock genre, The Meanies have
thus far eluded me as a primary rock band of genuine consideration. It
just seems to have been one of those instances where they have escaped
my era. The Meanies were believed to be part of a powerful
underground machine, cultivating a crop of young musicians who thought
they too could start a band, a fact that ‘Kram’ from Spiderbait
attests to. My intention isn’t to worship at The Meanies
feet in the vein hope that I will be considered worth commenting on
rock n’ roll by my peers. It appears in the documentary Sorry ’Bout The Noise
that before the likes of The Meanies and Dirty Three, there was not a
strong connection between the local scene and abroad. This DVD shows
them as honest blokes who played the music they loved. And in doing so
helped bridge the gap between underground and mainstream rock with their intuitive
marketing sense. Highlights of the documentary include some of
the stories that you wouldn’t tell your mum about (let’s just say one
of them involves an on stage brawl with no pants, and the other includes
drumsticks, no pants, and a lot of beer). Yes, The Meanies certainly
took band shenanigans to a whole new level with that one. It makes
biting heads off chicken's and on-stage dwarf hangings look passé. Some
of the more bizarre and quite disturbing on-stage antics caught on
camera involved lead singer ‘Link’ Meanie at his most masochistic
(his cutting abilities match that of esteemed play
school host Noni Hazlehurst, and even more eerily of her ex-husband
John Jarret). My favourite part of the DVD, to be found in the live performance section, is the untimely rendition of Pathetic.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, allow me to recite a few lyrics.
For those of you who are easily offended, this song probably isn’t for
you. These are, without doubt, some of the greatest, most honest lyrics
I have ever heard: “You’re
pathetic, you’re pathetic, you’re a pathetic c**t….
You’re pathetic, you’re pathetic, you’re a
f**kin’ c**t.” ‘That
is Mozart and Shakespeare combined’ says Lindsay McDougal from Frenzal
Rhomb. And I tend to agree. Although a lot of us like to think we are
above that kind of humour, the truth is that we still find it funny. I
myself thought that rhyming c**t with c**t was one of the most ingenious
song lyrics that I have ever heard, and such poetic lyrical genius is
even capable of making the most pretentious 18th century literary
figures jealous. EXTRAS
Aside from the feature length documentary, other features include
(as noted above) rare live footage from Newcastle University that shows
The Meanies as a formidable force that can match it with any other
band. And if you ever happen to see them live, beware Link Meanie if he
ever gets hold of a drumstick… Seriously. Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 65%
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