‘Dig!’ takes look at bizarre lives of indie rockers

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, October 7, 2004

The old rock and roll shuffle gets the fly-on-the-wall treatment in “Dig!” – an exhaustive documentary about two indie bands: the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and the Dandy Warhols.

Their punning names indicate similarities, and at the beginning of this story (around 1996) the two bands indeed seemed like comrades in rock. Mutual admiration is expressed, comparable beliefs are espoused.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre is led by the fascinating but increasingly wacko Anton Newcombe. Although he is acclaimed a rock genius by almost everybody in the movie, Newcombe can’t keep himself from tongue-lashing his fellow band members (there’s a revolving door for people who play in BJM), yelling at the audience, and walking out on gigs.

He’s contrasted with Courtney Taylor, the frontman for the Dandy Warhols (based in Portland, Ore.). Although both men excel at the decadent rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, Taylor seems fundamentally … well, sane. He also narrates the film – which would seem to give him a decided advantage, although the film’s focal point remains Newcombe.

The two bands were documented for seven years by the shaky digital camera of director Ondi Timoner. After the early goodwill between them, things go sour. BJM appears destined for strictly underground success, while the Dandys begin to get noticed by the mainstream.

Newcombe quickly does a song that’s obliquely insulting to the Dandy Warhols. Later, he sends bullets to the Dandys, with the names of band members inscribed on each bullet.

To its credit, “Dig!” shows Newcombe’s background, his childhood, and especially the very sad story of his father. It makes the film less of a freak show, and it gives the incorrigible Newcombe a layer of pathos.

Other personalities emerge during the film, notably Joel Gion, a classic rock goofball whose function in the Brian Jonestown Massacre appears to be beating a tambourine, looking kooky, and enduring years of Newcombe’s abuse.

You don’t have to like, or even know, the music of these two bands to enjoy the film, although it helps to have a taste for tales of rock debauchery. In fact, the druggie trajectory of Newcombe and Taylor is so familiar in this movie, you wonder how aware they are of following in the footsteps of self-destructive rock stars from the past. That’s probably part of the appeal for them.

‘Dig!” won a top prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It’s a chaotic movie, scruffy and sprawling, but its unvarnished lesson in music and psychology is bracing.

“Dig!” HH

Chaotic but fascinating: A documentary covering seven years in the friendship (later rivalry) between rock bands the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols, with special focus on the bands’ frontmen.

Rated: Not rated; probably R for language, subject matter.

Now showing: Varsity.

“Dig!” HH

Chaotic but fascinating: A documentary covering seven years in the friendship (later rivalry) between rock bands, with special focus on the bands’ frontmen.

Rated: Not rated; probably R for language, subject matter.

Now showing: Varsity.