Wednesday, March 2, 2016

DICKS-THE DICKS FROM TEXAS: PUNK STYLED DOCUMENTARY



One thing is sure about most when it comes to punk rock: you either get it or you don’t. Fortunately for me I fall somewhere in between but most people love it or hate it. I can at least appreciate what was being attempted by punk rock even if I didn’t enjoy all of it. That being said I’m still not quite sure what to make of The Dicks, even after watching this documentary.

The Dicks were a band that formed in Austin, TX around 1980, not a time when their style of music or life was considered accessible by most people. The punk scene in many cities was the same featuring bands who were hailed by the locals and unknown to the rest of the world. Those who stuck it out, like The Dicks, were eventually heard around the world but many were lost to local history. The band was considered influential to the more hardcore punk music being conceived but like most bands eventually imploded and broke apart.

THE DICKS FROM TEXAS is a love letter of sorts to the band. You can tell that the film makers were definite fans of the band and its lead singer Gary Floyd who is featured in numerous interviews taken over the years. It include interviews with the rest of the band members as well when available as well as numerous fans and band followers from their heyday. Each person interviewed has loving stories to tell of the rowdy days when the band played any and everywhere that they could, sometimes to receptive crowds and other times to those more inclined to toss them out. But with each war story a certain amount of respect needs to be offered to the band for sticking it out long enough to be remembered while so many bands are long forgotten.

One thing brought up concerning the band and noted on the back sleeve of the DVD was their refusal to “sell out”. Rather than sign on the dotted line and become a bigger selling act with a national recording contract they stuck with more regional record companies. While this may have given them great street cred it did little to line their pockets with much needed cash or make their recordings accessible to a larger audience. I’ve often considered that phrase, “sell out”, to be nothing more than an attack on success. It would be one thing for a band to sign a contract and then completely alter their style but just signing and recording under a major label shouldn’t be considered selling out.

Not only that but many times it’s less about selling out and more about evolving. Many bands sounds changed when they were able to afford better equipment or as they developed a stage presence. The fact that they were making money had little to do with the change in sound.

While the documentary definitely loves the band it doesn’t serve them well in production values. Most of the film is shot on low grade video and it shows. Sound is also something that isn’t served well in portions of the doc either. Pictures of the band’s performances begin to be seen over and over again. Live performances from the past aren’t up to what can now be done with a cell phone. Surely someone would have recorded the band using something other than the worst equipment possible. If so you wouldn’t know it from this film.

Included on the DVD is 30 minutes of live performances by the band. As I said it’s not the best quality but for fans of the group it gives them something to remember the band by.

My son is a die-hard punk music fan. He’d heard of the band and told me they were worth listening to. He watched this with me and when it finished even he thought the production values on display made it hard to watch. He even told me that there were several points while watching that he almost dozed off. Not a good thing with a movie that only runs 80 minutes. But while watching I thought that the production of this movie was much like the punk rock music of the past. It was off the cuff, volatile and made for the masses without care for perfection or the standards set by others. If you’re a punk rock artists of any sorts that’s a badge of honor that you wear proudly. Of course as a consumer you might not find it worth plopping down $14 to own that work of art.

With movies like THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION and SALAD DAYS, both exemplary documentaries about the punk rock scene, my suggestion would be to purchase either or both of those documentaries before this one. If you’re a major fan of the band you’ll want to have this one in your collection. If you’re a fan of punk rock music you might want to watch it for historical reasons. For the rest I would pass it by.
 
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