Meet me in the Bathroom

A loose, informal-looking document of a time and place and the idiosyncratic music they served as backdrop to, "Meet Me in the Bathroom" is a glimpse into the Rock music scene of New York City at the turn of the century. Amidst the reality of Y2K, 9/11, Napster and George W. Bush Jr. The film shows how long dead Rock n' Roll came to life in the Big Apple when bands like The Strokes, Interpol, LCD Soundystem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a host of others kept a dying genre in life support by creating some of the most eclectic and compelling music in all of music.

Filled with interviews from the bands themselves and their associates and archival footage this takes one back to that cold, chilly and impersonal time. From the sensational hype-driven attention given to the scene-igniting and influential Strokes to the rare female-fronted act of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Dance-Electronic punkisms of LCD Soundsystem and the soulful experimentalism of TV on the Radio, on to the Anti-Folk quirkiness of The Moldy Peaches to the rocking danceability of The Rapture and the cool distant approach of Interpol the movie features a constellation of young hopefuls whose talents coalesced into a particular age and era when NU Metal and Hip-Hop dominated the global music scene, music that were the opposite of what they were doing, these underrated luminaries toiling and creating in a time that neither cared about them nor gave them their due.

While watchable the film lacks perspective on what truly matter. A good chronological backdrop on the history of the New York Rock scene would have fleshed this out more and would have given more of an understanding on what the bands featured have done and what they accomplished. And most of all and what the filmmakers glaringly missed which is what the film is basically about: the music! Too much emphasis is given on the personalities involved that the main reason why they even got to be featured here is sidelined and how good even great the music actually is.

Based on journalist Lizzy Goodman's tome of the same name, "Meet Me in the Bathroom" is a celebration of Gen X's and New York Rock's final hurrah before fading into the eventual eclipse of time and memory. A tribute to a great artistic legacy and a great city this is one Rock fans should see.

I grew up watching those bands and I remember what the media used to say about them, that they were going to save rock music.

But now after 2 decades... Yeah, they were just kids. We were just kids. Really, I was literally a kid. And I'm from Brazil and could relate to them so I thought I would be all emotional and so on.

It was nice to see the bands but there's a lot of unnecessary drama and white-rocker-men-from-new-york-problems'.

Maybe we're not just grown up but grew out of all of this so niched and dated scene from the past.

Anyway, maybe with a short edit and a more developed story from Karen O, for instance it would be better to watch.

Overrall, it was 6/10 and worth for the nostalgia.

This was a hard documentary to rate. On the one hand the amount of video they have of these bands at the start is gold. And I felt like I was back experiencing a youth I never knew. But the documentary flow and direction is hard to pick up on and the constant dancing between bands is hard, they're all interesting in their own way however and I watched this for the Strokes but I didn't skip or lose interest for any part of the doc.

It's so good seeing bands like the Strokes and Interpol live right at the start of their careers, musically they had it right away. Also interesting to see bands like Yeah Yeahs, the rapture, Moldy Peaches and LCD soundsytem early who Didn't have it to start with... but learnt quickly and started to make good sounding music for their already present coolness. Except for that LCD soundsytem guy, he doesn't look like a rock star at all so even more props to him-workmanlike.

I dreamt of being a rockstar and playing music to get the attention and acclaim I never got from my peer groups and opposite sex when I was growing up. Watching this I'm glad I didn't get it - would've ended up more of a narcissist than I was then. It's actually incredible many of these equally screwed up folks turned out pretty okay.

Interestingly, to me this is proof that survivorship bias and luck is a thing in music as well, and like success in many arts and creative endeavours, having rich parents helps...

If you like one or more of these Bands I definitely recommend you watch.

As a fan of The Strokes from Day 1, this was a must watch for me. Of course, I absolutely loved it.

I never knew Albert's struggles went that deep. I learned so much about more about the band and appreciate them so much more now.

As a native New Yorker, I remember the time period when this was all going on. The city still had a special vibe to it. There was something special in the air. All of it is gone now. You basically have to almost be a millionaire to live really nice and rents are out of this world.

But for that period in time The Strokes had revived the NYC rock scene, and were on top of the world. At one point they were labeled, "the new kings of rock." Some people have even suggested that they saved Rock N Roll. Bold statement, but in my eyes, very true.

The pressure they faced after "Is This It" dropped is enough to drive anyone crazy. Julian was really tough on the guys, especially Albert it seems.

I have some love for the Yea Yea Yeahs, but mostly cause of the energy that Karen O brings. I didn't know much about how they came up, but it was very interesting to find out in the documentary.

All the other bands shown were of no interest to me, so I won't bother mentioning them.

This is a very informative watch, and pure nostalgia. The time breezes on by, no drag whatsoever. Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Apologies for this write up. Wasn't really a review, just some random thoughts about the doc.

This gets a LennyReviewz Score of: 9/10.

Good enough doc but just seems there's far too much going on trying to navigate between 6+ bands and their individual stories. Would have been great as a 6 or 8 part documentary series. Things like interpol's second record are mentioned once for about 10 seconds. This was a seminal record at the time and was made infamous after being one of the first records to be leaked on the internet prior to release. Dunno just feel like there is so much more potential here and these bands deserved a more in depth look at their backgrounds and subsequent influence as well as the scene they created. Because if this it's one I don't think I'll be returning to.