The 2004 release of You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine, the debut album by Toronto band Death from Above 1979, was a watershed moment for many Canadian music fans. 

It was a weird and diverse time. Stars and Arcade Fire were carving out a baroque indie niche. Alexisonfire pioneered “screamo” before that became a dirty word. The Unicorns made synthy pop nightmares. And yet it was perfectly acceptable for a kid to love them all equally and vocally. 

DFA 1979 managed to be all these things, yet none at all. The two-piece’s distorted bass and frenetic noise-dance made its album a staple for many teens.

I wasn’t one of those teens, and to this day I’ve never really connected with DFA 1979. So I approached the new documentary Life After Death from Above 1979 warily. Fortunately, my indifference towards the band didn’t sour the film for me. 

Life After Death from Above 1979 is an intimate look at the process of forming a band, ending it, and resurrecting it. The duo becomes a cultural phenomenon without really trying. This film explores how they grapple with this status belatedly and sheepishly.

The doc captures all of the ugly camcorder glory of 2001-2006 perfectly. I cringed at the nostalgia I felt for the trucker hats, flippy hair and skin-tight jeans. I remembered what it was like to be in bands pre-YouTube. I marveled at how staggeringly different it looks a mere decade later, and took comfort in how little has changed. 

Despite an uber-corporate Coachella reunion (with singer/drummer Sebastien Grainger dressed like an SNL parody of Anthony Kiedis), the DFA1979 set is grimy and disgusting in exactly the way you want it to be.

I know I’m in the small minority of people who didn’t go nuts over this band, but though this movie, I did start to like them a bit. For those who are already fans, this is a guaranteed treat.

Plays Jan. 28 at Cinematheque with an introduction by director Eva Michon and DFA 1979 singer/drummer Sebastien Grainger.

Published in Volume 69, Number 17 of The Uniter (January 21, 2015)