Punk: Attitude (2005)

I bought 4

After seeing about half of this documentary on the Bravo Channel I went online to buy one to see the whole movie. After seeing the whole movie, I bought 3 more to give away to friends. This is THE BEST history lesson of the history of the Punk genre and an explanation of how it still has influence to this day. A must see - must own DVD. November 4, 2007

An inspirational call to arms

Amidst all the corporate dross that these days desecrates our favorite movement and what it originally meant, it is truly gratifying to come across something like this that puts Punk in its proper context. First, last and always, Punk is an attitude and for a brief moment in post-war Western history, this attitude (which has always existed in humans since time immemorial) expressed itself in popular music, the culmination of that being the blazing 18 months spanning 1976, '77 and '78. Don Letts' documentary is focussed firmly on that idea and really, when you think about it, remove the idea from the music and you're left with something rather dull and ordinary. The idea was what fuelled the music - something that relatively few musings on Punk these days seem to concentrate on. Packaged rebellion it was not.

As far as dealing with the music of Punk, this is an excellent, if slightly disjointed history of the roots and mechanics of the genre, stretching back to the echo-laden Rockabilly tones through to the '60s Garage band era (great footage of The Count Five!) and onto the proto-Punk sounds of the Velvets, MC5, Stooges, Dolls, Richard Hell etc. A large proportion of the documentary is dedicated to this which should be enough to recommend it alone. And all the while, Letts never allows us to forget the attitude that drove this music and made it what it was. The focal point is obviously the late '70s Punk explosion and I disagree with those who say that he neglects the '80s - a reasonable portion of the film is dedicated to Hardcore and it gets equal amounts of coverage/discoverage as anything else here. If there is a criticism, it is that the film has almost a piecemeal characteristic to it; you often feel as though it doesn't quite hang together and that as a history, it could have been tighter.

But then that's missing the "Attitude" portion of the title. As a manifesto, a true understanding of what this movement was, Punk Attitude is bang on the money. When someone way off in the distant future feels angry enough to kick out the jams once more, whatever their modus operandi, they'll be able to look back to the original Punk movement for inspiration. And this film will certainly be a part of that.

June 15, 2007

Best PUNK-umentary out there!

this dvd is awesome! by far the most extensive, educational, entertaining, thorough, and credible documentary on punk rock that is in existance, as far as i know. i've watched it 3 times already. it's that good! for anyone who wants to understand the attitudes and history behind punk rock, this is a must! i will cherish this forever and will be sure to educate my kids on it one day! May 18, 2007

An Incomplete, Yet Worthwhile, History of Punk.

I highly recommend this documentary for any punk rock fans, or fans of music history in general. Even if you don't like punk rock music, there is a lot to be learned from this film. This movie does a pretty good job of summing up why these people were making the music they were making, starting in the mid-60's, going through roughly 1980 in detail. The film includes interviews with many people who either made the music (New York Dolls, Suicide, The Damned, The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Buzzcocks, and more...well, the members still alive who would agree to interviews, at least), and people who made music that was influenced by the first wave of punk rock (Henry Rollins, Jello Biafra, Thurston Moore, Agnostic Front).

What is "punk rock"? That seems to be the mission statement of the film. How do you define a style that bases itself in the idea of non-conformity? One of the most interesting things to learn from the film is that many of the bands who made the music in the late `70's seem to believe that punk died when bands started referring to themselves as "punk".

The film does have a few faults. There are some glaringly missing interviews. From the pre/proto-punk era, they did manage to get a brief clip of John Cale from The Velvet Underground, and members of MC5, but not one member of The Stooges? Without a lot of interviews from the pre/proto era, that part of the film plays a little like one of those VH1 shows, where they show a clip of something nostalgic, and then a famous person comes on and says something like, "I remember that. I like that." Fortunately, there isn't too much of that, though.

Another problem with the film is the glaring omission of the 80's. The film has members of Black Flag, Bad Brains, and the Dead Kennedys in the movie, and yet sticks to the premise that "punk died in the 80's and nothing happened until Nirvana". This is a poor statement to make, for two reasons. First, when they say that punk died in 1980, many of the band members come off like those aging hippies who wag their fingers at kids and say, "music hasn't been the same since the Beatles". Maybe this is because I lived in California, where in the 80's punk and skate culture went hand in hand, but off the top of my head I can think of Bad Religion, Social Distortion, Circle Jerks, D.O.A., Agent Orange, Descendents, Millions of Dead Cops, Subhumans, D.R.I., T.S.O.L., Minutemen, Suicidal Tendencies, Husker Du, Flipper, JFA, Dead Milkmen, DI, Drunk Injuns, and many more. Punk was alive and thriving, as far as I could tell. It just wasn't like the days when bands like The Clash and The Sex Pistols appeared on the record charts (which may have been a good thing).

Also, lightly touched on, was the 90's generation of punk. Think what you will about the pre-pop-punk like Pennywise, Vandals, Offspring, Green Day, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Swingin' Utters, NOFX, etc., like it or not, those bands are part of the "punk" legacy. Why would the movie mention Korn and Limp Biscuit, but not most of those bands? Fortunately the documentary does make the distinction between those bands, and bands like Blink182, Good Charlotte, and A Simple Plan, who represent the complete assimilation of punk into "the system", the true death of punk.

Well, shortcomings and all, this is still a wonderful movie that will provide you with a knowledgeable history of early punk rock. To fill in some of the blanks, I recommend seeing the movies "American Hardcore", "The End of the Century", "The Filth and the Fury", "Westway to the World", "We Jam Econo", "Repo Man", and "Devo - The Complete Truth About De-Evolution".

EDIT: For a complete punk history, do yourself a favor and watch "Punk Attitude" (~mid-sixties - 1981), "American Hardcore" (~1979-1986), and "Punk's Not Dead" (~1986-present). These three movies have come out in succession, all made by different directors. Yet, as luck would have it, they pretty much cover the span of punk history up to 2007. Also, some time in the next year (I'm writing this in 2007), "The Decline of Western Civilization" will finally be released on DVD. September 24, 2006

A letdown

Knowing that this film was by Don Letts, the 70s English punk era D. J. that turned punks on to reggae (therefore influencing punk music through groups such as the Clash and Ruts) I was expecting this to be GREAT. It wasn't. If you're into punk, dont expect a history of it here. Lots of essential groups are ignored, from MANY 70's English and American groups to almost the entire hardcore and oi movements. The movie moves to later stuff like rap and grunge and other music that isnt punk instead. It is called PUNK ATTITUDE, not PUNK, so that may be its goal (although there is a lot of non-punk punk attitude not covered either). If you want PUNK, it has some stuff but is a real disappointment. The extras are worthwhile for reasons stated in other reviews here, so I wont be redundant and set them forth. June 25, 2006

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