Suburban Voice blog #24
AMERICAN HARDCORE
I imagine some of my loyal readers are curious about my take on this movie, since I was around "back in the day" and still believe that hardcore has plenty to offer, that it continues to regenerate itself. Well, in the parlance of Siskel and Ebert (and whoever Ebert works with these days), I'll give it a mild thumbs up. A recommendation with reservations. Some of my hardcore compatriots won't even go that far, completely dismissing the film out of hand--interestingly, I get that perspective more from younger folks who are actively involved in the underground/DIY hardcore scene whereas people in my age range love the trip down memory lane but, since they've long since moved on, they may not understand why the younger folk (and some of us old farts) may be offended.
Filmmaker Paul Rachman and American Hardcore author Steven Blush attempt to encapsulate a certain time frame, that being from 1980-1986 and the press kit tips its hand: "AMERICAN HARDCORE traces this lost subculture, from its early roots in 1980 to its extinction in 1986." Before reviewing the film, I have to say "what the fuck?!" Lost subculture? Extinction? Maybe to Blush and/or Rachman, it's extinct. Blush did say in his book of the same name, "As for the current hardcore renaissance, I don't wanna deny the legitimacy of today's teen angst, I just feel like, "Yo, make your own fucking music! Why just ape the music of my salad days?" I can relate to those old Jazz or Blues cats who played back when it was all about innovation rather than formula and who now see a bunch of complacent, umpteenth generation beneficiaries claiming the forms as their own. Face it, hardcore ain't the same anymore. It can still make for powerful music, but it's an over-with art form. It's relatively easy to be into now, but back then it was an entirely different story."
No, it's not the same anymore. And it's true that there's a certain amount of redundancy, repetition, predictability, ritualization etc. that is a part of the current hardcore universe. There was just as much of it back then--remember the term "generic thrash"? I don't think it's "over with" in any way, though. There are still innovative bands playing with the heart and intensity of someone discovering it for the first time and not merely "aping" what happened before. Since I still go to a ton of DIY shows and these bands are finding different ways to add that influence but still sound fresh, I'm taken aback with some of the "old guard"'s attitude. At the end of the film, Steve DePace from Flipper and Zander Schloss from the Circle Jerks (and Repo Man, probably his only claim to fame) had comments about punk sucking, etc.. They were probably meant half in jest but they're both out there playing the "punk oldies circuit." Leave that out and the movie is a time piece but, by adding it, it invalidates everything that's happened since.
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