Will Shanks

Major respect to Dave for paying tribute to one of the most storied and decorated recording studios in America. More gold and platinum records have been recorded at Sound City than probably any other studio. Of course, the story includes his own band, who cut the most significant record to come from Sound City Studios. The best parts of the story include the interviews and footage with the artists and engineers who spent the most time there. I also love Dave’s voiceover work and storytelling early in the film reflecting on the impact Sound City had on him personally, and to the history of recorded music. I have seen this movie four times now and while it’s always a truly satisfying experience, there are parts that bother me. With my last two viewings, I ended up turning off the film once the story shifts to Dave’s own studio. The first problem I have is that Dave attributes too much of Sound City’s “magic” to the featured console that he ends up buying and outfitting his own private studio with. While the console is of course incredible, many details roll up to make Sound City what it is/was: The musicians themselves, the engineers and producers who worked there and the decisions they made in production, the equipment they used on the studio floor, the equipment they used in the control room, including the console. But in my opinion the imperfect recording space itself (specifically Studio A) is what carries the most weight of a distinct and consistent sonic contribution. You can hear this when you explore the various records that came from Sound City. While Dave can feel good about rescuing the console used to make Nirvana and Foo Fighters records, there is currenly another Neve console in Sound City that can do essentially the same things, providing the same console sound. Yes, Sound City Studios still exists, and records are still being made there. After several viewings, it just gets kind of boring at the end. We end up at Dave’s studio with his new acquisition, with a lot of the Sound City artist alumni which is cool and touching at first. But after multiple views, it runs flat and a bit self indulgent. But hey, this is mostly a documentary, and it is certainly incredible that it exists. This is a must watch for anyone in record production and of course any fans of the records that Sound City produced. Highly recommended.