American Hardcore - DVD

[the9thbeastie]

I had a few free moments today so I rented the indie documentary on the 80s punk movement "American Hardcore." It is about 100 minutes long and well worth the rental fee if you're at all interested in punk music.

The Beastie Boys get mentioned 1X when Jerry Williams ( see
http://www.beastiemania.com/whois/williams_jerry/ ) spoke about 171-A and the New York scene. The majority of the film was based around the California bands...with a lot of time also given to the Wash D.C. groups like the Bad Brains.

I thought that interview clips with Harley (from Cro-Mags and the Stimulators) were top notch, yet was disapointed that none of the Beastie Boys were interviewed.

The main point that bands in the film made was that hard core punk was their reaction to the crap they saw coming from the main-stream record labels. I felt like that hit home with me, because I am largely disappointed with the state of popular music (both rock and rap) today...it will be interesting to see what genre of music rises up when the Boy Band / Britney Spears era finally comes to an end.

[ggirlballa]

umm didn't that era already end?

isn't it emo and dirty south now???

[Justin]

I'm still in the Johnny Cash era. I'm not sure about everyone else..

[the9thbeastie]

umm didn't that era already end?

isn't it emo and dirty south now???

Perhaps, but Britney is still on the cover of multiple magazines including Entertainment Weekly.

[Kid Presentable]

Perhaps, but Britney is still on the cover of multiple magazines including Entertainment Weekly.

Not for the same reasons. The era is over, and yes we got emo music. The common thread isn't the interesting kinds of music that come about as a reaction to the mainstream. The common thread between the hardcore days and now is teenagers. They fucked up this time around. But then, I'm not a teenager.

[luckydan#4130]

every incarnation of "punk" will happen in due time be it 77 (ramones,sex pistols)84 (minor threat,black flag) 88 (youth of today,cro-mags)but it seems that today's emo or what have you is more appathetic and less reactionary (watered down) than the hardcore days of 86-90 something i was involved in...
don't get me wrong, we had our fair share of scene problems, namely drug abuse but this music today still seems soulless
i wish that kids today could experience a 7 seconds show in a club that had 500 capacity or jimmy gestapo jumpin' on the bar of the electric banana and kickin' every drink into the pit or the riot at the exploited show but i just have to settle for being called an old man and realize that this time line is like a water balloon and the rebirth is always gonna happen just as every water balloon bursts
burst damn it burst

[Kid Presentable]

You have a modern issue now; it's harder to keep things underground or a secret nowadays.

[luckydan#4130]

kids are smarter than us kid :p
they will figure out a way to divy up the punk points and make shows relivent again because punk has always been about message NOT about fashion(or my spelling prowess)

[Kid Presentable]

I'm not gonna front like I was ever part of any movement, but if bands nowadays can remain true to themselves with all this money flying around, and these avenues for exposure, then they're possibly doing it a little more legit than the older-school bands.

[Weezman]

I'm still in the Johnny Cash era. I'm not sure about everyone else..


I never would've made it through the Arkansas mud
If I hadn't been riding on the Tennessee Stud :cool:

[luckydan#4130]

Kid you probably hit the nail on the head with that and Weez if we can stay outa fullsome prison and on our tennessee studs(bicycles) we may be well on our way to deserving viewership of that next "pure scene"

[Documad]

There has always been pop music and there has always been underground music. There are clubs full of sweaty kids bashing into each other in every major city right now.

I was a fan of some of the bands back in the day, but I did not enjoy the movie. It's definitely worth seeing if you're interested in a little slice of music history, but I personally didn't learn anything. I will also admit that any movie in which Henry Rollins appears automatically loses at least two stars on my ratings system. As I pointed out in the original thread -- this movie suffers from the Rollins Factor. :)

I would rather see fewer bands featured and more explanation about what the day to day life was like rather than the scattershot approach. I enjoyed the Flaming Lips and Wilco documentaries for instance.

[luckydan#4130]

henry doesn't bother me anymore ...he has his schtick and hollywood cash so whatever
i thought the flaming lips doc kicked much ass so i'll take your word Documad and check out the wilco one...thanks for the tip(y)

[luckydan#4130]

btw/ i didn't pick those bands because they were my favs they were just the first ones to pop in my head
the same goes w/the stories...those are the ones i remember from86-90 when i was a teenager
i was still in the scene after 90 just not as a teen