Review of Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone (2011) by Jasson C — 25 Mar 2012

'Everyday Sunshine' does what alot of music documentaries fail to do - tell a story about something important in a way that has some flair and keeps your attention; and it doesn't hide the warts.

The story of Fishbone is brought to life with an infusion of narration, cool animation, interview clips, and some amazing archival live footage that, in unison, paints quite a picture of the band's genesis, their entry into the insane world of the music industry, and their distinctive style (and it's affect on their career and lives). There's not as much vitriol shown as say, like in Metallica's 'Some Kind of Monster'. But the themes are similar. Band members almost always eventually start to drift both artistically or socially, and it affects the music and the relationships within the band.

As someone who worked in the industry, I thoroughly connected with the story of their frustrations with "breaking" into the "big time". The band has such a unique sound and presence, that they were literally undefinable in a time when definition was important due to racial boundaries in the industry and racial perspectives in the audience. A quote from one of the film's interview clips states something to the effect of, "They were too white for blacks, and too black for whites...".

The film highlights the effects of society on a band's mentality (like the Rodney King trial), the effects of family (or lack thereof), and the effects of trying to belong in an industry that says you really kind of don't fit anywhere. And much focus is put onto the relationship between the two remaining original members - who, even after decades of struggle with the industry or with themselves or with each other, are still hell-bent on being musically creative.

'Everyday Sunshine' is an extremely well-made documentary about a band that influenced everything - yet reaped very little reward from it; and you can see it on their faces at times. They keep going once more into the breach because it's what they do, it's what we want, and they're gawdam good at it.

All hail to the 'Bone.