Movies Reviews

Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone – Movie Review

By Ron Wilkinson Oct 20, 2011, 13:59 GMT

From the shifting faultlines of Hollywood fantasies and the economic and racial tensions of Reagan\'s America ...more

Hold on to your hats for a heartwarming look into the private lives and public outrage of Fishbone, the critical mass that refuses to melt down.

This is the story of eight to ten young men who somehow manage to pull self-expression out of the crushing depression of South-Central Los Angeles. Not all of the members are from the ghettos, which is one of the surprises in the film.

One of the moms is smart enough to know when she has a good thing. She says letting a band practice in her house is a good thing because then she knows where her son is. That is something very few parents can claim, today.

A rockumentary about musical pioneers who have been on the margins of pop for the past 25 years, “Fishbone” managed to incorporate three or four distinct musical styles into a single set. Sometimes, in a single song.

The band shot up the charts in the rocking punk/ska scene of the 1980’s only to burst amidst a super-nova of dissention until only a couple of the originals were left. Over the next two decades some of the originals came back, many newbies came and went, and the band plays on to this day.

Fishbone may be one the most democratic bands in the history of rock. Democracy in a rock band is self-destructive. It is harder to keep a democratic band together than it is to keep a democratic country together. This chaotic, random contribution to an absurdly multi-faceted musical style is what makes their albums a parade of musical surprises.

It is what makes (or made, in their prime) their live performances barely controlled riots of rapturous moshing. Most bands have one, or at the most, two strongmen who write the material and call the shots. Everybody is Fishbone writes and plays.

They write and play with a feverish intensity that, on screen, is a joy to behold. These guys knew they were going to get at least one super movie out of these super performances, even if it killed them all, and it almost did.

On one level, the very fact that they can interpret the essentially white attitude of punk rock perfectly, they trashed the myths of the young black man in urban America. Beyond that, they were able to bring s diversity of self-expression to rock, one of the toughest businesses in the world. This is democracy in action. Equality of opportunity in the never-ending fight to make the world safe for chaos.

Lead singer Angelo Moore and bassist Norwood Fisher lead the band, nominally, and get more screen time in this rock biopic, but there is a cast of thousands. Other members of the band, current and former, are incredibly candid is telling the world what worked, and what did not, in the chemistry of a dozen very talented young men.

These musicians bucked all the odds and succeeded in the toughest business in the world in some of the toughest neighborhoods of the world.

However, the interviews also include an inventory of punk super stars from Gwen Stefani (No Doubt) to Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Ice-T to Branford Marsalis and Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction, Porno For Pyros).

Then, of course, there are the videos of Fishbone’s concerts. Death-defying exhibitions of crashing guitar chords, screaming horn sections, shattering keyboards and percussion and crowd interaction that makes Victory in Europe Day in Times Square look like last Friday at the Elks Club.

Laurence Fishburne narrates this exciting and candid look inside a major band and inside the music business that drives many of America’s 21st century values, and economy. Cinematography is by Jeff Springer and the dynamite sound is produced by Norwood Fisher and Jimmy Sloan.

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Documentary
Directed by: Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler
Release Date: October 7, 2011
MPAA: Not Rated
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color