Meet Me In The Bathroom review: Low on insight
Spanning a ten-year period between the turn of the millennium and the early 2010s, Meet Me In The Bathroom looks at the rise of the New York indie rock scene. Charting the arrival of bands including The Strokes, Interpol, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, it also introduces the venues, fledgling companies, and fans that made their noise heard around the world.
Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern’s film benefits greatly because the era it’s documenting has been captured on film. This helps to plunge the viewer into the New York of the time, and you really get to know these legendary figures before their sold out stadiums.
If the authenticity is there, the insight is sadly missing. We get personal tidbits like The Strokes’ swaggering front man Julian Casablancas being quite awkward off stage, and the various insecurities and jealousy that comes with several bands hitting it big at the same time.
However, these always seem like a collection of stories rather than a singular movement. New York is a character in itself, going through post-9/11 despair to the divisive gentrification of the surrounding boroughs. But geography and success seem to be the only things holding these musical journeys together.
Meet Me In The Bathroom never digs beneath the surface of what made the scene special, and the number of classic artists mentioned each deserve their own individual portrait. However, as a burst of nostalgia it will more than satisfy those 30 somethings who have traded their skinny jeans and Converse for a business suit.