Based on Stephen Blush’s book American Hardcore: A Tribal History, the Sony Classics documentary American Hardcore: The History of American Punk Rock 1980-1986
chronicles the relatively quick rise and fall of the hardcore punk
scene that took place primarily in the early 80s. The punk scene
covered in the film reflects the political climate that was taking
place in the United States at that time. This short period in musical
anarchy more or less coincided with the first presidential term of
Ronald Reagan.
Not coincidentally, true
hardcore pretty much fizzled out with the re-election of Reagan to a
second term (for those interested, the book delves a little more into
the pre-1980s days). It was around this time that the kids involved in
the hardcore scene began to question the validity of what they were
doing and how (or if) it was making a difference at all. What started
out as a bunch of disconnected, anti-societal youths finding
companionship through adversity turned into a violent, racist,
drug-fueled and frustrated movement that eventually imploded, ending as
quickly as it began.
Many of the most prominent
names from that time are interviewed for this documentary. Henry
Rollins and Greg Ginn (Black Flag), Keith Morris, Greg Hetson and
Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks), Paul “H.R.” Hudson, Darryl Jenifer, and
Dr. Know (Bad Brains) and Ian MacKaye and Brian Baker (Minor Threat)
are just some of the many pivotal players who provide first-hand
accounts. The interviews are interspersed by many grainy and
claustrophobic video performances (a very fitting time capsule of the
way things were, complete with VHS dropouts and tracking problems).
However, while the video contained in the performances is genuine, most
of the audio consists of overlaid tracks from the actual studio
recordings. Quality footage of these shows is hard to come by, as most
of it was shot non-professionally.
The two most prominently profiled bands in American Hardcore
are Black Flag and Bad Brains. These two bands more than anyone else
were archetypal of what was happening on either side of the country
around that time. Black Flag almost single-handedly started the Los
Angeles hardcore scene and dictated what it was to become on the West
Coast. As Henry Rollins makes clear in the film, while the rest of the
country was still doing the pogo in the pit, L.A. punks were routinely
spilling blood and beating the shit out of each other. Yes, punk rock
could be violent and even senseless at times, but the anger and vitriol
of the music naturally lent itself to such youthful aggression.
Meanwhile
in Washington, D.C., The Bad Brains were the band that everybody wanted
to be. They were musically proficient, much more so than most of the
hardcore bands of that time. They were also an anomaly within the scene
in that they were African-American; hardcore was a scene that
encompassed mainly while males from the suburbs. Though Bad Brains
eventually self-destructed due to their Rastafarian lifestyle and a
penchant for reggae music that the hardcore kids weren’t down with,
their influence can not be understated (just ask the Beastie Boys, who
took their initials BB as an homage to Bad Brains). 
What
comes across as one of the strongest parts of this documentary is also
part of why it fails. While there are countless videos and stills of
hardcore bands from that period, many were of people who, quite
frankly, had a very small impact on the scene. However, bands such as
the Misfits, and most importantly San Francisco’s Dead Kennedys, are
barely mentioned (Dead Kennedys are named once by Greg Hetson only in
reference to a story he tells in which Circle Jerks opened for them).
Formed in the late 1970s, Dead Kennedys doesn’t quite fit into the same
sort of DIY lifestyle that the film chronicles (plus, the band members
were generally a little older,) but many consider them the true
architects of the American hardcore sound. It seems that they should
have at least been mentioned. The same goes for the Misfits. Other than
a brief appearance by one-time Misfit’s guitarist Bobby Steele, there
is no mention of them. While it is pretty much accepted that with the
absence of most of the original members, the Misfits became a farce,
they still played an important part in the East Coast scene (Blush
devotes an entire chapter to them in his book).
That
being said however, the film chronicles a time when kids got together
and created something for themselves. Aside from some basic territorial
differences, and a few lifestyle ones as well (the “straight edge”
scene in particular,) the film showcases a time when disillusioned
youth worked together to find (or, if necessary, make) a place where
they could fit in. No, they didn’t really change much (as the film
makes abundantly clear by showing Ronald Reagan’s second inaugural
swearing-in,) but it gave kids a place to fit in, and it created some
really amazing and powerful music that still has a place in our culture
today. Extras on the DVD release include three deleted scenes, though
nothing too powerful (there’s usually a reason why these scenes are
deleted), and a few extra or extended performances.
Director
Paul Rachman manages to capture the spirit of the movement through a
series of interviews that look as if they were filmed in the very clubs
and basements that many of these bands actually performed in. Much like
the book, the film moves geographically across the country, noting the
difference between West Coast hardcore and East Coast hardcore, and
everywhere in between. Of course, it would be impossible to encapsulate
the entire hardcore movement in a 100 minute film. In all fairness to
author Blush, while his book does have its flaws, the book touches on
some important contributors to the period that the film fails to. In
the case of the film version, perhaps Rachman would have been better
off focusing on more variety instead of devoting so much time to some
of the genre’s headliners.
Minor flaws aside, American Hardcore
is a film worth seeing, but mainly for fans of the genre. Though it’s
often offensive, violent, caustic, rude and all around
anti-establishment, that was the point of the music anyway. If nothing
else, Rachman has succeeded in taking the viewer back to a time when
music went far beyond Casey Kasem’s sappy Top 40 underbelly. Hardcore
symbolized a lifestyle that was in sharp contrast to one that the
autonomous, suburban Reaganites were living at the time, and this film
gives a glimpse into just how sharp the contrast was.
