Review of American Hardcore (2006) by Chads. — 02 Apr 2008

Punk rock never quite made it to Hawaii. We had Frank Orrall, whose first band was called Hat Makes the Man. Orrall, of course, is the brainchild behind Poi Dog Pondering, Hawaii's sole contribution to the "alternative" music scene during college radio's heyday.

What Blue Oyster Cult did for the cowbell("Don't Fear the Reaper"), Poi Dog Pondering did for the tin whistle("Living with the Dreaming Body"). Needless to say, I was listening to Gary Numan at the start of the hardcore movement("Here in my car, I feel safest of all"), and moved on to China Crisis("Difficult Shapes and Passive Rhythms" is underrated, man!) when Black Flag called it quits.

"American Hardcore" is only as good as the music they're covering, and since this documentary insists on being a comprehensive one, the film drags a bit when the film shines the spotlight on the midwest.

Things pick up again when the film covers the advent of SST Records, because Henry Rollins and Ian McKaye are brought back as testifiers to this, yes, ancedotal, but entertaining oral history. On IFC, Rollins talks about his renewed love for ELO, and all things classic rock, but his contemporaries are diehards, apparently, still ragging on those dinosaur acts like Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles.

Foghat? Why pick on Foghat? I'd love to hear Vic Bondi(Articles of Faith) comment about Jack Johnson. According to the British, hardcore never existed. After The Sex Pistols disbanded, the era between 1978-1984 is commonly labeled as post-punk.

You can probably play "Holiday in the Sun" to a mixed audience with a minimal amount of agitation from the MOR-jetset, but that's not the case with Bad Brains' "Pay to Cum".

So, is punk rock dead? Don't tell that to Les Savy Fav, who kicked everybody's ass on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" during the writers' strike. I've lived in Hawaii my entire life and I had no idea Dan Inouye's son played in Marginal Man.