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No,
It's Not About Porn AMERICAN
HARDCORE: Directed by Paul Rachman. Written by Steven Blush
and inspired by his book American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Produced
by Rachman and Blush. With Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins, Greg Ginn, Brett
Gurewitz, Paul "H.R." Hudson, Jack Grisham and many more. Sony Pictures
Classics, 2006. R. 100 minutes. According to filmmakers Paul Rachman and Steven Blush, the story of American hardcore — a particular branch of punk, to put it broadly and simply — is a short one, lasting approximately from 1980 to 1985. In a new and appropriately DIY (that's Do It Yourself) documentary, Rachman and Blush mix interviews with a massive who's who of hardcore with gritty live footage, piecing together an oral history of hardcore told by those who were there.
But first, they set the scene: Polo shirts, politics, pop music, pastels. Fast and distorted, with vocals so harsh and monotone they're almost anti-melodic, hardcore came of age during Reagan's first term; as Vic Bondi of the Chicago band Articles of Faith says, "Everyone was saying it was morning in America. Someone had to say, 'It's fucking midnight.'" Hardcore musicians and fans were fed up with what they were being told was the goal: grow up, get married, get a house in the 'burbs, have kids. The lyrics are the stories of a fiercely independent, anti-conformist youth with no interest in the status quo. They gave their bands aggressively pointed names (D.O.A., Circle Jerks, Millions of Dead Cops), put out their own records, made their own fliers and started their own record labels (commercial success was never the point). What American Hardcore does well is create a sense of the era that birthed and spread hardcore music. Band members talk about touring, sleeping on floors, playing anywhere, getting bruised in the mosh pit — and it's clear they remember these times with glee and a certain degree of amazement at the hijinks of their youthful selves. The narrative thread bounces from musician to musician, lingering on the somewhat bigger names: Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz, Greg Ginn of Black Flag and SST Records, Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye, Black Flag's Henry Rollins, H.R. of the intensely influential Bad Brains, Mike Watt. The film's first half is an entertaining trip for anyone who ever came into contact with hardcore and its players. But later, when Rachman gets a little more ambitious with specific parts of his history, American Hardcore wilts. Brief glimpses of less urban scenes whiz by: the Midwest, the South, "Tex-Ass," the Northwest. A perfunctory-feeling segment focuses on women in the scene, or the lack thereof; two female musicians speak, and it's telling that while one says she never thought much about being female, the other, Kira Roessler of Black Flag, speaks of her dismay when she felt the title and cover of the band's third album, Slip It In, made fun of women. A look at hardcore's later days and present incarnation, though you might expect it, never comes: As far as the film is concerned, hardcore died in the mid-'80s and hasn't been the same since. The point-by-point nature of these segments break up what narrative focus the film has, and when American Hardcore winds down — with the old punks mocking today's "punk" rockers — it's lost its direction. By the end, those without a previous appreciation for hardcore may wonder what the point was; those who were part of the scene may wonder where their favorite bands were. But those who just want a thick slice of music history will likely find plenty to keep their attention. American Hardcore opens Friday, Nov. 17 at the Bijou. |
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