An up-close cinematic walkabout through the life of Gary Young, the original (and highly unlikely) drummer of indie rock royalty Pavement. His booze and drugs-fueled antics (on-stage handstands, gifting vegetables to fans) and haphazard production methods (accidentally helping launch the lo-fi aesthetic) were both a driving force of the band’s early rise and the cause of his eventual crash landing. Leaving a wake of joy and/or destruction at every turn, Gary teeters the thin line between free-form self-expression and chaotic self-destruction. Thirty years on with scoliosis, blood clots, and a shriveled liver, Gary continued drumming with no regrets.
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Video Quality
Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young and Pavement comes to Blu-Ray from Factory 25 with a rock solid HD master which exhibits this documentary exactly as intended. This movie is comprised of a mixture of verité footage of Gary around his house, interviews conducted for this movie from the recent past, older clips, music videos, concert footage, and pictures to help contextualize the full scope of this life. The new talking head interview segments look crisp and clear when filmed in person and less impressive when conducted over Zoom. The subjects present consistent skin tones and detailed facial features such as facial hair and age lines.
The archival footage seems to stem from the most stable source possible, some of which is understandably a bit inconsistent due to the era in which Pavement was emerging onto the scene. The more recent footage at Gary’s house is lovely with only a small amount of variance to account for the shuffling between different rooms. The colors featured in the footage have a significant amount of depth to them. The encoding does not falter when it comes to compression artifacts or digital anomalies. This documentary achieves what you want in HD.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray disc comes with a mostly strong lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 track that presents this material in a straightforward manner. Dialogue is the prominent aspect of this experience in the center channel as you get the anecdotes relayed in a stable environment. The interviews feature an assembly of talking heads which is expanded upon with additional archival concert footage. The non-diegetic music and clips of performances both resonate with decent fidelity, although the recording methods used for the early performances have the expected limitations. There is not much in the way of unwanted digital anomalies or other issues spotted. This track comes up just short of being perfect thanks to not being a lossless track, but the average viewer will likely not notice any loss in quality. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Director Jed I. Rosenberg provides a terrific commentary track that reveals so many secrets about the production of the film including the logistics of filming, tricks in the editing process, and more.
- Gary-Onettes: A 15-minute featurette that gives you additional insights into the creation of the puppets used in the film.
- Deleted Scenes: There are nearly three minutes of additional unused footage provided.
- Story Time: A nearly three-minute piece in which Gary shares a story through song.
- Trailer (2:03)
- Booklet: A 30-page booklet is included featuring “Plantman Knows: In Conversation with Scott Kannberg and Mark Ibold” by Camilla Aisa, “The One With A Head” by Jed I. Rosenberg, and “Chance Encounters of the Lo-Fi Kind (and what I learned while producing LTYT)” by Jeffrey L. Clark.
Final Thoughts
Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young and Pavement is a well-rounded look at a key contributor in one of the pillars in the pantheon of indie rock history. The documentary stands out more than many of its ilk due to the lack of polish it tries to give to its subject. Gary Young undeniably had a musical gift that made him an exciting presence when he was functioning at full capacity, yet his unpredictable behavior made him a liability to play with. The insights you get from those who knew him best, along with Young himself, make for a rewarding viewing experience for fans of the band and open-minded newcomers alike. Factory 25 has released a Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and some terrific special features. Recommended
Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young and Pavement is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Factory 25 & OCN Distribution have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
