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American Hardcore

Paul Rachman¡’s documentary is an angry mosh-pit of mayhem, which is rightly fitting as it chronicles the American punk scene in the 19 80s¡ªa fine sequel of sorts to Penelope Spheeris¡’s The Decline of Western Civilization. As Rachman and writer Steven Blush (working from his book) have it, Hardcore was birthed around the time of Ronald Reagan¡’s first inauguration and on a precipitous wane by the president¡¯s second term. Many of the featured bands, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Bad Brains and Minor Threat, target Reagan in their snarling lyrics and frenetic three cord riffs. The scene of antiestablishment ire, primal expressionism and violence resonates from LA to DC, New York and Boston (DYS, SS Decontrol and, personal favorite, Gang Green represent). Luminaries Henry Rollins, Moby and Flea chime in and Rachman, like Spheeris, digs deep for the scruffy, bled-out VHS footage, that even in its abysmal state, lends a stroke of poetry to its subject.

- TBM

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