“The Family Jams” is an insanely DIY film of a concert tour of acts that can’t get played outside of College Radio. Hell, most of these guys are lucky to get that anymore. Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom remain the big draws, while the others don’t attract attention. Still, I dig the approach to this release. While I was watching the DVD included in the back of the book. I could flip along the pictures and plot out a trail of the tour.
It’s a novel approach that helps to entice the audience into seeing what it’s like to live down and dirty on the road. That being said, it also has that hipsterish smack about it that you can’t shake off. The director of the documentary apparently played with Devendra Banhart, so subjectivity goes out the window. Instead, we get a jam piece of a documentary.
You get about 32 minutes of extra which just feel like more padding. If you’re a fan of the artists involved, this will be a must buy. Everyone else will question the timing issue of releasing a documentary about a tour from 2004 in 2015. Especially, when it wasn’t a big deal.
Release Date: OUT NOW!