In the late seventies the music scene was stirred from
complacency by a form of music that came to be known as punk. Fast and furious,
three chord structure and unharmonious vocals were the rage providing anyone
with the opportunity to become a rock star. Well except that the whole idea of
punk music was to turn the establishment on its head so to be a star was sort
of defeating the purpose. The whole idea of punk rock music was to strip music
down to the essentials, getting rid of the overproduced music that had filled
the airwaves and making it accessible to the masses. The lyrics were more
political than even those of the protest fueled sixties. It was something new
based in something old, the garage rock bands of the early days of rock. While
remnants of the punk rock scene remain for the most part it came and went
rather quickly, mostly gone within a decade.
One thing about the punk scene though was that it was as
regional as the tried and true rock scene that came before. England had the
jump on most with its working class heroes decked out in safety pins and dyed
Mohawks. New York had the Ramones in the forefront and CBGBs featuring artists
like Richard Hell and Talking Heads. California produced bands such as The
Germs, X and the Dickies. But while those bands all seemed to attract the most
attention there was a dedicated punk following beginning in of all places
Washington, D.C. that spawned some of the bigger names outside of both coasts.
That’s what this film is about.
Premiere among the bands from the D.C. area was Minor
Threat. One of the main members of that band, Ian MacKaye takes center stage
early on in this film having not only because of his involvement with that band
but also because along with fellow band member Jeff Nelson he founded Dischord
Records, the main record company to issue most of the music coming from bands
in the D.C. scene.
The documentary focuses on the scene from its early inception
through to the years when it seemed to falter and nearly disappear. What makes
it more interesting than anything, at least in my opinion, was watching the
discussions and timeline of the scene as it went from a rough and ready music
that appealed to a niche market (which the bands were happy with) into a music
that the masses of suburban kids adopted making it a bigger item. When that
happened those who were there from the start began to lose interest or to
become the stars that they never wanted to be. With something that was supposed
to be so subversive it ended up following the same path that mainstream rock
and roll had followed, changing from rawer sound to a more technically produced
one, from basement production companies to major labels. This makes for a
fascinating film that features numerous interviews and captures tons of live
performances by both early and later bands.
Having been around during the time when punk was beginning I
was never a fan. It wasn’t until later that I began enjoying some of but not
all the bands. That being the case this movie was more interesting for me then
it might be for someone who is well versed in the history of the scene and its
many players. As a novice to that music I found it interesting to watch the
development of the music as it changed from the do it yourself style at first
that eventually reshaped to the grunge movement later on. I’d never made the
connection before. I also never realized that there were different styles of
punk rock music, some of which I’d not heard before. Not only was there the
straight punk scene it was divided into two forms, the straight edge scene (so
called because they were made up of bands and fans that were mostly underage
and didn’t drink or do drugs) and the hardcore scene that did do these things.
Like the music or not to learn about the whole culture of
the punk rock scene from D.C. makes for an interesting movie that holds your
interest from start to finish. And while you watch and listen you might
actually discover that some of the music being played is actually much better
than you remember it being. For those of us raised on KISS and Journey to hear
the bands like Minor Threat and The Ramones was a turn off early on. Looking
back and listening to it now I find that I tend to appreciate it much more now
than I did at the time. It also means that I’ve discovered some bands I need to
check out that I missed back then like Fugazi.
In the end this is a documentary that does what the genre of
film making is supposed to do. It presents a head on look at the topic at hand,
an even handed look that presents warts and all. Sure the director of this film
was a fan and actually was a part of the scene at the time, but while his love
of the topic at hand is apparent it doesn’t cloud his judgement when making the
film. He tells it like it is using a combination of interviews and archived
footage to make the movie interesting, informative and above all else
entertaining. It might not be your cup of tea but I highly recommend watching this
one, a must for music fans and for everyone else as well.
Click here to order.
No comments:
Post a Comment