Film Review: American Hardcore
by Christian Klusman
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, antisocietal 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, 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; hard-core 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 cannot be understated (just ask the Beastie Boys, who took their “BB” initials 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 Misfits 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 belong, 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 Rachma 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, which 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 the one that the autonomous, suburban Reaganites were living at the time, and this
film gives a glimpse into just how sharp the contrast was.