Making a historical chronicle about punk rock is a little like enshrining surrealism in a museum; somehow it doesn’t quite fit the original spirit of the thing.
But “American Hardcore” is nevertheless an affectionate look back at the heyday of the punk music scene in the United States, which the movie pegs as 1980 to 1986. This is one of those films (“Dogtown and Z-Boys” set the standard) that want to convince everybody about the importance of a once-cool underground scene.
Fair enough. And “American Hardcore” has the appeal of a subject with distinct parameters and pretty much a single, monolithic sound. It ranges across the U.S. (and into Vancouver, B.C., for the seminal band DOA) for bands that fit the profile.
Like many movements, hardcore punk created bonds between far-flung participants. Many survivors of the era get misty-eyed when they recall crashing at the homes of like-minded musicians in Austin or Milwaukee.
Certain groups emerge as the stars of hardcore punk: Black Flag, for instance, whose lead singer Henry Rollins became the most visible poster boy for the idea of loud, violent rock. Bad Brains is lauded by everybody as the toughest act to follow.
Director Paul Rachman has culled a huge amount of concert footage from the movement, most of it appropriately rough-edged and cruddy-looking.
He also gets potent anecdotes from the many band members interviewed. When Rollins recalls punching (and getting punched by) audience members, Rachman is able to cut to a vintage clip illustrating just such a fracas.
The violence of the scene is recalled almost nostalgically. But the stories of people punching each other in the face seem worlds away from the Sex Pistols and their defiant yawp against the prevailing order. Plus, the Pistols’ music was better.
Attempts to draw larger sociological conclusions from all this, which don’t include any comments from music critics, are pretty one-note (the movie is bracketed by the two Reagan inaugurations in 1981 and 1985, as though tracking the rise and fall of hardcore). But then the music was pretty one-note, too. “American Hardcore” is interesting pop history for fans of rock history, but it seems unlikely to win too many new fans.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
