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Arto Lindsay, Lydia Lunch, Glenn Branca, Sonic Youth, Yeah Yeah Yeahs ... see more see more... , Martin Rev , Black Dice , Gogol Bordello , Lee Ranaldo , Liars , Teenage Jesus & the Jerks , Thurston Moore , Suicide , A.R.E. Weapons , Eugene Hutz

Take a trip to a musical terrain where art and punk collide as filmmaker Scott Crary presents an illuminating look at New York City's short-lived no wave scene of the late 1970s and early '80s. A scen... read more read more...e that birthed bands more concerned with challenging listeners rather than getting them out on the dance floor, no wave was an attempt by frustrated punk rockers to eschew such traditional concepts as influence and rhythm to birth something truly transgressive and original. Though the music of such no wavers as Suicide, Lydia Lunch, and Theoretical Girls would ultimately be deemed unlistenable by the majority of music fans, the post-punk elements of the style would later be adapted into a more commercial sound by such popular bands as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Black Dice, and Liars. In addition to allowing the artists from each generation speak about what they believe to be the true value of their music, Crary attempts to contrast and compare the decidedly anti-commercial sentiments of the original no wavers with the radio-friendly output of their millennial counterparts. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

45% liked it

2,258 ratings

Critics

38% liked it

13 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 15 min.

Directed by: Scott Crary

Release Date: July 7, 2006

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DVD Release Date: August 29, 2006

Stats: 124 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (124)

  • shitfaced8
    April 3, 2011
    shitfaced8
    Recently I've been getting into No Wave bands like DNA, Mars, Teenage Jesus, and obviously early Sonic Youth and Swans (2 ofmy favourite bands for awhile now.) When I heard abut this documentary on the New York No Wave scene of the late 70's/ early 80's I was excited to see it. T... read morehe first half is really good, but the film got derailroaded aroun the middle portion. Instead of continuing with a pretty good documentary about No Wave it jumps ahead to 2002 and begins interviewing bands of the current New York hipster sene (Yeah Yeah Yeah's. Black Dice, Gogol Bordello, Liars etc.) ll good bands for what they do, I just don't think that they had any business being in this movie. Maaaybe if they were actually talking about the subject of the film I could have gotten over it, but nstead, as hipsters usually do, they talked about themselves. When asked about No Wave, the only band most of them seemed to be aware of was Sonic Youth. Anyways then the movie cut's back to the No Wave peoples and you get their perspective on the current scene. Basically I wanted a documentary about No Wave, and this film started out as that, but in the end couldn't really decide what the topic of the film was. So it doesn't get to in depth about any of the topics it covers. That being said the movie get's a pass from me as there is some really good performance footage from the old No Wave bands, some entertaining and enlightening interviewsfrom Lydia Lunch, Thurston Moore, Michael Gira, The Singer from DNA, Martin Rev, Lee Ranaldo etc. Perhaps I am being a little harsh but in the end I felt this movie was a failed attempt at covering a scene that still deserves a more thorough examination. Ah well, worth seeing for the things it did right as mentioned above.
  • ileo
    March 25, 2008
    ileo
    Absolute favorite!!
  • MARS9T8D4
    November 18, 2010
    MARS9T8D4
    An insightful, thoughtful commentary on the underground post-punk movement in the heart of New York.
  • xmkatx
    December 7, 2008
    xmkatx
    Liked it, mostly the beginning of the film about No Wave. Nice to see footage of Sonic Youth, YYYs, Teenage Jesus.

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Critic Reviews

Owen Gleiberman
July 12, 2006
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Kill Your Idols then takes a misguided swerve into the current downtown New York rock scene, so that it can spend more time preaching about the anarchy of the good old days than it does revealing them. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
July 7, 2006
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

The documentary enters more dubious territory when it tries to present today's more consumer-friendly post-punkers (like the Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs) as some sort of successors.

Elizabeth Weitzman
July 7, 2006
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

...an atonal love letter to a single corner of the culture - one built, in the words of singer Lydia Lunch, on 'beauty and truth and filth.' Full Review

Manohla Dargis
July 6, 2006
Manohla Dargis, New York Times

S. A. Crary's music documentary examines New York's No Wave scene of the late 1970's an offshoot of punk, the anti-New Wave.

Joshua Land
July 5, 2006
Joshua Land, Village Voice

Kill Your Idols pulls a few punches, tempering its respect for No Wave values like extremity and contentiousness with a more 2006 concern for not actually offending anyone in particular. Full Review

Shawn Levy
September 1, 2006
Shawn Levy, Oregonian

This is little more than a sketchy portrait of two fascinating cultural moments with only geography and 70-ish minutes of celluloid connecting them. Full Review

Chris Barsanti
July 11, 2006
Chris Barsanti, Film Journal International

Discordant documentary on New York's "No Wave" art-punk music scene begins in fertile territory but squanders everything with a lengthy and ill-considered comparison to more recent bands. Full Review

Eric Lurio
July 8, 2006
Eric Lurio, Greenwich Village Gazette

The film is well done, capturing a brief, unimportant moment in musical history.

Keith Phipps
July 6, 2006
Keith Phipps, AV Club

Crary takes the usual talking- heads- and- archival- footage approach, which isn't really a problem, though the film's whirlwind approach is. Full Review

Edward Douglas
July 4, 2006
Edward Douglas, ComingSoon.net

Reminds you that for every Sonic Youth, there's a hundred bad New York bands that can't play their own instruments. Full Review

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