Movie Review: Search & Destroy: Iggy & The Stooges Raw Power

Search & Destroy: Iggy & The Stooges Raw Power is a documentary debuting at NxNE as part of this year’s film festival. The doc is based around the Stooges’ third album and total flop, Raw Power. And when I say flop, I mean it didn’t do well commercially, but man did it influence a lot of musicians. Henry Rollins, Johnny Marr, Clem Burke (Blondie) and Chrissie Hynd all weigh in on Raw Power in between interviews with band members Scott Asheton (drums) and James Williamson (guitarist) and of course the beef jerkey’d one, Iggy Pop himself.

This documentary has it all: history, excitement, funny quips, commentary by music lengends and above all it’s got balls. In fact, it’s got the kind of balls that make you want to immediately start a band and take over the world. To say it’s been a long time since I felt anything like that would be a gross understatement. I had all but forgotten that a band could make me feel that kind of unbridled mix of destruction and hope that is pure, unfiltered rock and fucking roll.

From the opening quote from famed rock critic, Lester Bangs, “You may find yourself repulsed by them, you may not be able to abide a single note of their music, but they are undeniably the sound and look of the future” right through to Iggy’s comments on his use of tambourine in tracks to keep the swamp sound of the other instruments from competing, I was captured entirely.

The Good:

Iggy Pop is really smart. Like scary smart. It was an honor and a pleasure to watch him and band mates Asheton and Williamson listen to the original Raw Power tapes in a studio and pick apart every riff, ever drum beat, ever ounce of production good and bad that went into it. Everyone gave an honest opinion about the music and the time without blowing too much smoke up anyone’s arse. The editing with old photos and footage gave an accurate and apt portrayal of the times and where the band had struggled from to get to this moment, which thoroughly succeeded at transposing the viewer so that I felt like I was right there with them.

The Bad:

Honestly, the only shit thing about this doc was that it began and ended with Raw Power. I wanted more (a lot more) when all was said and done. I wasn’t satisfied with a few moments of footage of a recent performance in Brazil to what looked like  thirty thousand people. Also, there wasn’t enough titles and I often got lost in the band faces that seemed to all blend together after a time. And finally that watch that James Williamson was wearing throughout was the worst piece of accountant pension garbage I’ve ever seen. Someone should burn that thing.

Out of 5 stars, I give it a whopping 5. I watched it twice in a row, and I came away excited, and morose and filled with questions, most namely, “will I ever in this lifetime be lucky enough to get even a glimpse at that kind of action?”

For more on movies playing at NXNE, CLICK HERE Also, just FYI, Iggy Pop and the Stooges will be performing at Nathan Phillips Square on June 19th as part of NXNE. You gotta see the sinewy one in the flesh to believe it. Trust me on that one.