Various

Various: Another State Of Mind DVDAnother State Of Mind DVD (2004)
BYO Records

Reviewer Rating: 4

Contributed by: Nick_VNick_V
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on August 21st 2005I was born in 1981, which means that 90% of my favorite bands were at the apex of their existence while I was running circle pits in my playpen to the sounds of "Sesame Street." Although I often lament the fact that I was born too late to experience firsthand the music that has proven itself to be t.

I was born in 1981, which means that 90% of my favorite bands were at the apex of their existence while I was running circle pits in my playpen to the sounds of "Sesame Street." Although I often lament the fact that I was born too late to experience firsthand the music that has proven itself to be the most vital in my life, I always keep an eye out for digitized time capsules of a bygone era, such as this one.

Set and filmed in 1982, BYO's Stern brothers purchase a decrepit school bus and set off to tour North America with their Los Angeles peers, Social Distortion. A melange of roadies, mechanics and peers tag along for the trip, lured by the thrills of the experience and a $5.00 per-diem. Footage of live performances and the road is interspersed with interviews of the participating bands and street punks, waxing philosophical about the intrinsic entropy of standard-issue suburban family units, Reagan-era politics, Mike Ness' drinking habits, and punk rock ethics. There's also footage of an adolescent (not the band) Mike Ness applying his make-up in the mirror and strumming a catchy tune that would later become the song "Another State Of Mind."

There's a wide cast of characters in this movie, from brain-damaged Canadian gutter punks to snooty French coffee shop owners who call the cops to throw out hungry punk rockers. As the tour grinds on, the merry collective of peripatetic punks quickly grows frustrated with each other's personalities, eccentricities and the cramped, steerage-like living conditions. Attrition inevitably occurs, with fed-up roadies and band members opting for Greyhound tickets back to Los Angeles. Morale deteriorates as the bus becomes fraught with mechanical problems, resulting in everyone's daily food money being reduced to cover repairs. The crew crashes briefly in New York with Circle One's John Macias and the P.U.N.X. Christian punk collective, taking advantage of the free lodging and politely tolerating the pervasive "Join Jesus" atmosphere.

The bands move on to Washington, D.C. and are put up at the Dischord house, where we are treated to golden footage of Ian MacKaye working behind the counter at Häagen-Daz (though Rollins had already left for LA with Black Flag -- he is nowhere in sight) and some classic chaotic footage of a Minor Threat show. After crashing in D.C. and taking a hard look at their circumstances, the bands realize that they can't complete the tour and decide to return to Los Angeles, tired and hungry. As they leave the broken-down bus in the driveway of the Dischord house, each of them is alternately sorry that things didn't work out and excited that they're going back home.

The movie runs for roughly 80 minutes, and although some of the interviews can be a bit long-winded and tedious, there are plenty of goodies to keep you entertained, such as an instructional primer on skanking (which is punk dancing for those of you who don't know), various bits of punk mischief (stealing Canadian flags, for example) and a montage of stage-diving and moshing clips set to the tune of Youth Brigade's "Violence".

All in all, I enjoyed this movie very much, because it was a peek into a world that I was too young to experience, but never too old to look back on and celebrate. If you're a fan of Social Distortion, Youth Brigade, Minor Threat and the Reagan-era zeitgeist of punk/hardcore, then this is well worth the $13.99.

Now, if only they'd release "Decline Of Western Civilization" on DVD...

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (August 27, 2005)

- stevejones8770@yaho.com

you must be talking aboot yr mom: ya ho ?

i think you meant yahoo.

ok. i made an asshole remark about the reviews being old. you pointed it out. good for you. i'll put a star next to yr name and send a nice note home.

but look, i gave you an opportunity to end this idiocy by saying i was sorry and stuff.

the reason i keep coming back to this and posting is because i'm truly intrigued with all the fuckin' hate and shit that i see on messageboards. especially among supposedly like-minded people (uh, punks).

yeah. i know. i started. i posted some shite about the reviews being old. again, i'm sorry.

but dude, everywhere i go there are no-life losers like you waiting to pounce!...calling people out on shit and saying "burned" and "owned" and shit.

you, friend, truly are a jock. there's not a punk bone in yr body. i feel sorry for you.

love, that guy.

oh, and look, keep talking shit because it makes you more jock-y and i think that's funny. i'm laughing right now.

oh, and i listened to RKL in high school in the 80's. yeah, i'm old.

oh, and Another State of Mind is a rad movie. thanks for the review! and i'm sorry to PUNKNEWS.ORG for talking a wee bit o' shit. i sent something to you for review MONTHS ago and was momentarily frustrated because it hasn't been reviewed. but i understand and it's cool. keep up the good work.

but jones, dude...suck it.

stevejonestherealbones (August 27, 2005)

i got the cut & paste right.

and you know what doesn't mean shit? a war of words between 2 punks.

so i bow out. sorry. let's move on.

-that guy from 2 posts back or whatever.

you call this a war?
you said something stupid...i pointed it out
you said something stupid again...i pointed that out
some war. we can move on, i am an ass and just have to say this first...

you damn well didnt get the cut and paste right. dont try and tell me you meant to post your reply between the "jones the bones" part and my email address....

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yaho.com

Anonymous (August 26, 2005)

"to the guy two posts below who hasnt learned to properly cut and paste...what the hell are you talking about with your punk points and shit? what in my comment made you think i care about all that and when you were listening to rkl?

besides, saying you listened to them in high school doesnt mean shit. for all i know, that coulda been this afternoon..on your ipod mini ..on the way to summer school

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com"

i got the cut & paste right.

and you know what doesn't mean shit? a war of words between 2 punks.

so i bow out. sorry. let's move on.

-that guy from 2 posts back or whatever."

Uhhhh,,,,,,I wrote my comment before I read the article and saw any of the comments entered. Just saying I live a couple blocks from ian, seriously,,,,,just a joke.

I think you spend toooooo much time on this site.

and for the record JONES THE BONES?!?!, that RKL comment was from someone else ASSWIPE!

"All up in the Kool Aid and don't even know the FLAVOR!!!"

sickboi (August 24, 2005)

Shawn is one of the nicest guys in punk rock. Met him a few years ago in Richmond when they did a show with Mustard Plug, and I think, the Utters?

Anyways, Shawn was a class act and Mustard Plug were dicks.

The end.

Anonymous (August 23, 2005)

BYO RECORDS.........I ordered a cd from those guys a while ago, and after about 2 weeks I called them for the status. They said they sent it out a couple days ago and I should receive it any minute now. When I got home, there it was.

Point is......it's a business. If you think something is wrong, CALL THEM, it's a BUSINESS. They're not gonna let themselves get a bad name w/out trying to fix the problem.

Keep up the good work Shawn.....that guy below is just mad cuz hollywood video fired his ass.

Anonymous (August 23, 2005)

I bought this on VHS about 3 years ago. It's great. It showed the ups and downs of punk rock touring. I liked the minor threat scenes the best, since my house is about 6 blocks from theirs.

OOOOOOHhhhhhhh.......punk rock points for me

joeg (August 22, 2005)

"woah, relax. i don't think anyone here is saying that the film isn't awesome, but it's jsut responsible when discussing a review to mention that, if the film is a documentary and some of it has been staged... well that is of interest and should be noted. no one is poo-pooing another state of mind. i made the first commment on this thread about it and im disappointed that you somehow read my observatiosn and the others as being aggressive. i didnt think that was the vibe,"

-and i in turn don't think shawn's comments were whining or should be perceived as whining, at least in my eyes. he made some frank observations. and i think he was commenting on what was written in the review, not your comments, where it was made to look as if the guys were all buddy buddy with the supposed "christian punks" in nyc when in fact if you had heard the band commentary, that wasn't the case. shawn was just clearing that up from the review, no?

joeg (August 22, 2005)

it's always shawn stern this, shawn stern that!!!

-i didn't like the roadie who kept dying his hair every other day.

stevejonestherealbones (August 22, 2005)

to the guy two posts below who hasnt learned to properly cut and paste...what the hell are you talking about with your punk points and shit? what in my comment made you think i care about all that and when you were listening to rkl?

besides, saying you listened to them in high school doesnt mean shit. for all i know, that coulda been this afternoon..on your ipod mini ..on the way to summer school

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

Nick_V (August 22, 2005)

Staged or not, the footage is of punks and punk rock music in 1982, so that's why I gave it a good score.

I liked it, Shawn. Watched it again last night.