Dead Boy Productions

American Hardcore: The History of American Punk Rock 1980-1986
Review by Caity Did

Here at Dead Boy we’ve had a little light bulb go off. We realized that there is this abundance of amazing books and videos about the “scene”. (punk, rockabilly, psychobilly, ska, etc.) We do CD reviews of those genres why not review the other forms of media we have out there, get those people more recognition for doing what they do.

After reading the book American Hardcore a friend told me that someone had made it into a documentary. So I figured hey, why not since I have NetFlix. Now keep in mind I read the book before I saw this documentary. So, I feel, personally, that I spent the entire time somewhat comparing the contents of the book to what was covered in the documentary, and sadly a lot was left out. I just finished watching it and thought it was a fair documentary. It covered many different areas of the 1980’s punk and hardcore scene, and by areas I mean geographically. They start out in California (well of course, cause we fuckin’ kick ass!), with bands such as TSOL and Black Flag mentioning only briefly Dead Kennedy’s from San Francisco. They also mentioned bands such as; Bad Brains, DI, Beastie Boys, Minor Threat and covered places such as Texas, One of the Carolinas, New York, and areas of the Midwest.

However, to be perfectly honest a whole lot was left out. I was most disappointed that some of the other New York bands that I feel had a large influence on the hardcore scene in the 80’s were only mentioned in a title, such as under Harley’s name it stated he is in Cro-Mags. Agnostic Front was hardly mentioned, Madball and 25 ta life were left out as well. The saddest part for me, being my favorite hardcore band that was entirely left out was Warzone. I feel that many lovers of hardcore have a place in their hearts for Warzone and it is a shame they didn’t even get a mention. The part when the Northern California scene was mentioned was so short you could blink your eyes and it would be over. They didn’t even mention what is said to be one of the epicenters of punk and hardcore as far as venues go the ever so famous Gilman Street Project.

I honestly could go on about what was left out, I have read other comments about this documentary and many others notice how much was left out. Also, it seems to be more on the 1980’s Southern California punk scene more than hardcore. Bottom line though, I feel that you should definitely check it out, although, I would definitely recommend you read the book first, it’s extensive. When I first read it I was getting into hardcore and it really helped me on understanding it, respecting it and as a guide to give a few great bands a listen. It was fun to watch, it had some pretty cool interviews and great old footage of some cool bands playing. It got me pumped up enough to check Northern Califas list of shows to head out to a dingy venue like I used to.