I’ve no idea what to expect. Moonbathing in February is the new short film from hard to define band, Fat White Family. An unconventional band, this is an unconventional film. Opening with a confessional monologue delivered at candlelight over wine and cigarettes. There’s no particular narrative structure, more a DIY doc capturing the band living through the period of conceiving new music. It’s lofi, raw and honest. Cooking Christmas dinner, singing on cliff edges, playing in public toilets, naked press-ups. It’s very slow, with a mix of fly on the wall footage mixed with bits of staged single takes. There’s no glamour, bluster, rock n roll bullshit. It’s the reality of living as a musician in 2021 and is quite refreshing. Apparently it “Serves as a portrait of just how hard it is to get your rocks off at the bitter end of a winter lockdown and what, if anything, it means to be in a band at this abysmal junction in music history”. A celebration it is not. I’m still looking forward to the shows in a couple of weeks though. Live music again. Imagine that! I’ve almost forgotten what to expect.
6/10
