Kill Your Idols
Palm Pictures | Release Date: July 7, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Taking its title from a key track by the NYC noise band Sonic Youth, S.A. Crary's documentary about No Wave music and its paradoxical influence is both a history of music that sought to defy history and a sharp look at the crisis of innovation in an age of commodified nostalgia. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
One of the film's oddest aspects is the way the 2002 footage appears more dated than the scenes from 1978. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Most interesting are the founding mothers and fathers of this movement, who first appear amusingly nostalgic and eventually grow exceptionally bitter as they complain about the packaged and ambitious nature of artists today. Read full review
60
VarietyLeslie Felperin
Doesn't have the crossover appeal of recent music-themed docus like "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster," but could find worshippers as a micro-niche release. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
As it stands, this is little more than a sketchy portrait of two fascinating cultural moments with only geography and 70-ish minutes of celluloid connecting them. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderPeter Margasak
Crary struggles to explain the eruption and influence of the extreme rock underground that began with the late-70s "no wave" scene and eventually generated acts like Swans and Sonic Youth. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJoshua Land
Kill Your Idols pulls a few punches, tempering its respect for No Wave values like extremity and contentiousness with a more 2006 concern for not actually offending anyone in particular. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
As Lydia Lunch of Teenage Jesus & the Jerks puts it, "They seem so desperate to be liked, desperate to have their music used in the next car commercial." Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Takes a misguided swerve into the current downtown New York rock scene, so that it can spend more time preaching about the anarchy of the good old days than it does revealing them. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Despite his access to both No Wave luminaries and atmospherically battered footage of various bands wreaking havoc at various venues, Mr. Crary never figures out what story he wants to tell. Read full review
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