Live It Up: The Mental As Anything Story

A warm, funny and gently moving look at a band that never took itself too seriously, full of wit and affection.

Directed by

Matthew Walker

Genres

Documentary, Music

Starring

Greedy Smith, Reg Mombassa, Peter O'Doherty

Tagline

Live It Up celebrates Mental As Anything - an art-school band whose warmth, wit and irreverent spirit captured Australian suburban life and left an enduring cultural legacy.

Overview

Live It Up is a feature documentary celebrating Mental as Anything, the art-school band whose irreverent humour, visual art and clever pop songs made them one of Australia's most distinctive cultural forces. Following the release of Nips Are Getting Bigger in 1979, the Mentals rose quickly from inner-city Sydney pubs to national fame, becoming masters at capturing Australian suburban life with warmth, wit and playfulness. While success came fast, they never treated it with reverence. Funny, warm and unexpectedly moving, Live It Up explores how Mental as Anything navigated fame, longevity and the pressures of the music industry while holding fast to their humour and creative spirit - revealing why their music continues to resonate today.

How it feels

Warm, whimsical, satirical and earnest. Brisk and easy to follow.

About

Music, art, friendship, identity

Content

Mild sexual content and language. No violence or gore.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Watch the trailer on YouTube (opens in a new tab)