Don’t Let Our Youth Go to Waste is a comprehensive visual document spanning the history of Galaxie 500. A compendium of all their music videos, a TV appearance, and an archive of over 40 songs performed live, this 2-DVD set includes a performance of an unreleased original song “Buzz in My Head” and a live version of Jonathan Richman’s “Back in Your Life,” both of which were never recorded or released in any other form. The deluxe booklet contains photos and a new interview with all three members, Dean Wareham, Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang conducted by Yo La Tengo’s James McNew.

From fan footage to professionally-produced segments, the concerts have been compiled from over 20 hours of performances, starting from an early local show at the Middle East in Boston in 1988, to a full set at a November 1990 concert at the University of London. The New Musical Express raved about a concert, “Galaxie 500 are the world’s premier softness trio. Live, they leave you stunned.”The first disc contains all four of their videos, directed by friend and photographer Sergio Huidor as well as segments taken from five concerts — from early local performances in Boston to 1990 west coast tour dates — which all came from the band’s personal collections. It is rounded out with a performance and interview for UK television, taken at the band’s peak in popularity.

The second disc, or “Bootlegs” disc, has two full concerts from 1990: the first in Atlanta and the second in London, both shot by audience members. After receiving tapes by a call-out to fans from around the world, the band curated all the footage and picked what best captured their career.

Praise for Galaxie 500:

“Galaxie 500 could be one of the most influential bands to emerge from the late-80′s independent rock scene.” – Karen Schoemer, The New York Times

“Galaxie 500 made some of the starkest, most beautiful, American underground music of the past decade.” - Melody Maker

“Galaxie 500 is a wintry opiate. A hypnotic open loop of gentle drums, a bass that becalms like a mother’s finger to her lips, and a guitar that drifts purposefully from languid to leveling. A voice singing high and strange. Sounds like love (lost) in a cool snap.” - Pat Blashill, Spin