Peter Case: A Million Miles Away

Back in the 90s, when people actually bought music from stores, indie distribution allowed offbeat records like these to be on the shelves of offbeat stores. Suddenly maniacs could find that Peter Case album the New York Times called hot s**t. Near the end, the current issues with streaming revenue arise, making Peter Case: A Million Miles Away an excellent primer for the endless fountain of raw deals music makers get.

All of this was brand new to me, as I only knew of Case because the Plimsouls were on the Valley Girl soundtrack, along with so many other great f*****g songs. One interview mentions how hard it is to sell an artist if there isn’t one big song they are associated with. Plimsouls had such a song, but Peter Case, the solo artist, did not. And this is the biggest challenge facing Parnes with this rock doc. The director is left with the thankless task of trying to showcase Case’s talent by guessing which tunes can hook a viewer. There also seems to be a limit to which recordings the filmmaker could get the rights for, as most songs are drawn from a live show in 2019.

“…eye-opening…”

We are given generous song portions, some nearly in their entirety. That’s risky, as you cannot tell what will stick. I admit I didn’t feel much flutter until the midpoint. That is when “Charlie James” comes on. It sounded absolutely fantastic, the kind of dark swarm of echoes I would have enjoyed back when it was out as well as now. This led me to check out the self-titled album online, which far outstripped my expectations. So I hope there is a Case tune in this that catches your fancy.

Peter Case: A Million Miles Away is an eye-opening portrait of an unsung songwriting powerhouse. If you are like me and think you know something about music, see this immediately because we both apparently didn’t know s**t. But now I know Case is the real deal, and you will soon as well.

For screening information, visit the Peter Case: A Million Miles Away official website.