Rat-a-tat-tat Review - V31 Sept/Oct 2004

Birds of a Feather

Rat-a-tat-tat Birds, Photographs by Jeff Winterberg 1991-2003

Offering a deeply personal glimpse of the underground American music scene of the past decade, Jeff Winterberg's photographs document some of the most influential (and often criminally overlooked) bands doing their thing when it seemed like almost no one was looking. From tiny smoke-filled clubs to house parties to cramped record stores, Winterberg captures seminal bands like Nation of Ulysses, Fugazi, and Unwound with a the eye of not only a fan, but of a musician (Winterberg played guitar in San Diego hardcore band Antioch Arrow). The resulting book chronicles 12 years spent lovingly documenting a musical culture perpetually on the fringe. In the tradition of photo collections like Glen E. Friedman's Fuck you Heroes, Winterberg manages to provide an insideršs perspective on a music scene that strived to exist outside the pressures of commercialized success. The images themselves are a testament to the energy of live music, intimately showing the bands at their most gleefully vital and blissfully un-self aware.

-T. Cole Rachel

Rat-a-tat-tat Birds, Photographs by Jeff Winterberg 1991-2003 is published by Volumeone LLC, volumeone.com

photo credit: Unwound, Casbah, San Diego, Spring 1994.