I don’t know why noiserock is so appealing. Maybe it’s because when so many extreme music scenes demand a certain outfit or style, noiserock consists of nerds, schlubs and regular joes who just happened to find salvation in perverted feedback.
The Color of Noise is an exhaustive and absolutely fascinating look at a label which is now synonymous with the genre, aesthetic and attitude. But it goes way beyond anecdotes about Helmet’s demo tape and the Dope, Guns, and Fucking in the Streets comps.
Founder Tom Hazelmyer, aka Haze XXL, is exactly the kind of person you would expect to have started a label known for its work with the Melvins, Unsane, Today is the Day, Cows, Cop Shoot Cop, Jesus Lizard and dozens of other groundbreaking bands. He’s a midwestern ex-marine who was obsessed with music that didn’t do what other music did. And by picking up the bands that no one else wanted, he created an empire that has yet to be duplicated. Oh, and he was in a month-long coma once.
Also, because of Hazelmyer’s reach, and the documentary’s scope, the overarching tale of Amrep is broken down into little mini-docs of a few dozen bands, and how they became icons (or didn’t).
Watch the trailer if you don’t believe me, but really just skip that and buy the thing here.
