Inspired by the 2001 book of the same name by Steven Blush, American HxC chronicles the flash-in-the-pan existence of hardcore punk in America in the early 80's. Consisting of mostly interviews with musicians (among them including Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, HR of Bad Brains, and Mike Watt) interspersed with archival footage of racuous performances, the structure of the film is as loose and disjointed as the scene was itself.

This isn't your dad's punk rock; hardcore wasn't derived from The Ramones, Sex Pistols, or The Clash. By 1980, the original first-wave of punk had already taken on a new shape. The Ramones had recorded with Phil Spector, the Sex Pistols were already a thing of the past, and The Clash had embraced new wave. Instead, these were bored, middle-class Angelino white kids who imitated progenitors of the LA punk scene such as The Germs, The Weirdos and X and played faster and screamed louder.

The film chronicles the spread of the genre, as Black Flag and Bad Brains would sprout the seeds in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., respectively, and to other peripheral regions such as Vancouver, Minneapolis, and Austin to its eventual burnout less than five years later. Colored with hilarious anecdotes from those who lived to tell the stories, it's a joyride whether you are merely a casual fan of punk rock or have the Black Flag logo tattooed on your forearm.

Some have pointed out that American Hardcore failed to shine a light on the politics of the music, but the fact of the matter is that politics were rather unimportant to the scene. Reagan was a frequent target of the clip-art flyers and angsty lyrics, but criticism often fell within the realm of just hating what he represented. Their anger didn't come from oppression, but rather ennui. Instead, the fingers were usually pointed at themselves and their peers. This usually manifested itself physically, and violence became a huge part of the hardcore scene, as kids would up beating up themselves, each other, and the band they came to see. Why do you think Rollins is so ripped?

The free-spirit of the film serves as a homage to the D.I.Y. ethic of the bands it chronicles, but it also detracts from the film at times. Aside from the significant figures such as Rollins, MacKaye, Watt, HR, and Greg Ginn, most of the individuals interviews are about as eloquent and jaded as the music they used to perform. It's hard to take a former Circle Jerk seriously about not wanting to be "one of them" when he sits in front of the swimming pool in his backyard. Thirty-second clips of performances become a nuisance when every band and song from the genre sounds exactly the same and are played repeatedly throughout the movie. Aiming to bring insight to an often overlooked genre, American Hardcore fails to fill its 100-minute running time with more than enough meat to satisfy. No more than a third of the movie is truly substatial, the remainder is just filler. After all, it's hard to say much about a movement that began and ended simply because the kids were just bored.

Despite its shortcomings, American Hardcore is certainly worth a viewing if only for the wealth of footage and interviews that would otherwise remain unseen if not for this movie. It won't be converting a whole legion of new fans into the genre, but those who already admire the independent spirit of these young bands will certainly get quite a bit out of the documentary. If anything, trade back your My Chemical Romance and Panic! At The Disco CDs for a few dollars to buy a ticket to this.

American Hardcore ends its week-long run at the Nuart Theater tonight (10/5).

Official site

Download: Bad Brains – "Big Take Over"

(The Henry Rollins photo above is by Bill Wilson and is available, along with other great Black Flag photos, from his site)

- Carman