"I hate my boss, I hate the people I work with, I hate my parents, I hate authoritative figures, I hate politicians, I hate people in government, I hate the police."
Those are the exact words of Keith Morris, singer of one of the most iconic hardcore bands. That was the mentality that started a movement so underground yet inspiring a whole new breed of bands to come later. In this documentary directed by Paul Rachman, people like Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins and Chuck Treece who were majors contributors to the hardcore scene will take you through the beat up clubs, fights, and the speedy fierce chords. The Reagan-era kids who were against the new wave movement needed a release, an outlet of their own, and they found hardcore. Starting in Southern California, it soon created a ripple effect throughout the country "infecting" kids everywhere of this new kind of music that had absolutely no rules.
Whether you love the angry anthems created by bands like Bad Brains, Black Flag, Cro-Mags and Minor Threat or if you have never heard of this once underground movement, you will be shocked, moved and inspired by this film. Back when there was no internet, no MTV, no tight knit indie network, everything was done DIY. Thanks to these founding fathers of hardcore, a new generation of rock bands were born and popular rituals such as stage diving and slam dancing are now performed at every rock show. The current hardcore scene is different, and is incomparable to what happened in the 80's - hardcore was NOT supposed to be played on the radio and it was definitely NOT supposed to be commercial. Now the whole system of music has changed and everything has become accessible with the click of a mouse. Much of the hardcore bands out today have very technically skilled musicians and the vocalists can do more than just belt out angry words. This is not a bad thing, it's whether or not the listener enjoys it or not. It's just different.
But yes. Go watch this film, and jump in a mosh pit!
-akiko
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