When it was published a few years back I enjoyed the book
American Hardcore (Feral House). For those that don't know the work it compiles interviews with musicians and so on, offering an insight into the American hardcore music 'scene' from 1979 - 1986. Feral House also published a quasi-companion volume on the
grindcore scene and (perhaps best of all) a book on the
Germs. I have reviewed at least one of these books for Headpress.
Anyway, American Hardcore inspired a film of the same name which I finally saw this week, somewhat unbelievably locating it in my local mainstream rental outlet. The film uses numerous interviews and some great archive footage (especially of Bad Brains, Flipper and Black Flag) to tell the same story as the book.
While my youth wasn't spent around much hardcore I was a fan some bands (most obviously Black Flag who really created the hardcore style and then moved on from that, moving from scorched earth punk to almost jazz derived guitar damage. But what appealed most about Black Flag was they appeared to negate the clearly delineated politics that informed so many hardcore and punk bands lyrics, likewise they wrapped their records in sleeves with Raymond Pettibone's brilliant black and white images that avoided most of the trappings of the genre, I digress). But the film is remarkable in the way it catches the energy and excitement of the period alongside the d-i-y aesthetic that genuinely transformed the way independent music was created, distributed, and supported.
There is, watching this film, a real sense that a small creative space opened for a short time and that so much was possible, and, I can't help but wonder if such a space will ever exist again. While some may point to social networking sites as zones in which people can share information and promote their bands I feel such optimism is misguided. The possibilities seem somehow limited.
