Review: Dave Grohl channels his passion for the “lost art of analog” in the compelling Sound City

Say what you will about Dave Grohl’s questionable Grammy Awards collaborations, the nevertheless humble and generous Foo Fighters/Them Crooked Vultures/Nirvana musician remains a pillar of bona fide rock 'n' roll. Grohl got his big break beating the drums for tormented frontman Kurt Cobain as Nirvana captured the grunge zeitgeist. Now he's the instigator, director, producer and star of Sound City, a fascinating (if a tad drawn out) primer on rock 'n' roll history from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Through the prism of that eponymous dingy recording studio in the San Fernando Valley, Sound City provides rare access to the folks – musicians, producers, engineers and resident office manager chicks – who made the magic happen.

The premise for the film, which premiered at Sundance earlier this month, finds Grohl revisiting the studio described as “rock 'n' roll’s best kept secret” mere weeks before it permanently closed in May 2011. The shabby-looking L.A. space was hallowed ground for Nirvana’s Nevermind, Johnny Cash and Fleetwood Mac’s debut records, and countless other seminal rock, grunge, metal and folk classics. What began as a short film project about the space’s unique sound design (turns out the famed drum room’s acoustic perfection was a total fluke) and badass console (a custom-designed Neve 8028, for all you sound engineer geeks) quickly grew into a feature length doc as high-profile participants expressed interest. Compiling the list of more than 100 certified gold and platinum albums that have adorned the studio’s walls (artists as wide-ranging as the Red Hot Chilly Peppers, Pat Benatar, Weezer, Grateful Dead, Guns N’ Roses and Nine Inch Nails) builds a strong case for why Sound City and its founder Joe Gottfried deserve all the posthumous kudos they can get. 

Sound City and its legendary Neve 8028 custom-designed console

Grohl’s fanboy enthusiasm for busting open rock 'n' roll’s history vault is palpable throughout, with acts such as Tom Petty, Neil Young, Rage Against The Machine, Stevie Nicks, Trent Reznor and Queens of the Stone Age weighing in on the advent of compact discs (!) and sequencers in the ‘80s, Sound City as a tape-based studio that promoted a “digital sucks” culture, and the nebulous role of record “producers” back when no one quite knew what that title implied. For some, Grohl’s argument that punk-rock is rooted in a pre-technological time when music “sounded like people” might seem out of touch with today’s fast-moving, laptop-churning producers, but it definitely warrants deeper reflection.

My only caveat? The film’s last 35 minutes verge on the self-indulgent, as a star-studded jam session (Paul McCartney, Rick Springfield, Nicks, Frank Black) is organized in homage to Sound City and to the all-analog way of life these musicians espouse. Grohl justifies the drawn-out exercise by building hype for the film's companion record, slated for a March 12 release. There’s compelling footage here – especially the holy trifecta of Josh Homme, Reznor and Grohl going at it with inspired, on-the-fly compositions – but most of it could have been relegated to DVD extras.

All in all, Grohl thankfully avoids wrapping the story up too neatly: the studio’s demise can’t solely be attributed to the rising popularity of digital technology like Pro Tools. He explores how NiN’s ferociously intense Reznor used the software as another weapon in his creative arsenal. And while Sound City’s signature analog sound and its championing of artistic integrity are at the heart of what made it so appealing to many generations of musicians, there came a point when it had to step out of the spotlight and let the youngins carry on. If nothing else, Sound City reminds music lovers why those who got their hands dirty at this unassuming gem of a space can hold their heads high.

Sound City runs through February 7 at Cinéma du Parc
3575 Du Parc | soundcitymovie.com