U.K. Punk Daze Revisited

German filmmaker Wolfgang Büld made somewhat of a name for himself in the late-70s with a trilogy of music-related documentaries that captured the energy and creativity of the British punk scene and its aftermath. Recently reissued on DVD by our good friends at Music Video Distributors, the three films – Punk In London, Punk In England, and Reggae In A Babylon – were the German music fan's attempts to share his apparent excitement over what was going on in England with a wider European audience.

Let's get something straight from the beginning – Wolfgang Büld is no Michael Moore, or even Ken Burns. Both Punk In London and Punk In England are flawed, middlin' efforts where decent camerawork is marred by the atrocious crimes that were committed in the editing room. Sure, there were technological drawbacks of filming in the late-70s that contemporary documentarians aren't forced to suffer, but my main problem is in these films' lack of cohesion or narrative.

It would also have been nice if Büld had spent a quid or two on titles, as anyone not intimately familiar with British punk circa 1978 would be completely lost by interviews with mumbling, barely-articulate musicians without indentifying titles. Yeah, I know that Punk In London was made by a German filmmaker, but did he really have to provide narration in his native tongue, thereby keeping most of us in the dark?

What Büld did right was in letting his camera capture the raw youth and reckless energy of the various bands' live performances. This is something he does better with Punk In England, allowing longer and more stylistically varied performance clips, but there are several priceless, one-of-a-kind appearances of merit on Punk In London as well.

Punk In London opens up with several interviews where the young punk rockers are trying to define the concept of punk, stuttering yabbos claiming to have re-invented the wheel while putting down the music of the 1960s as "irrelevant," even if several high-profile punk artists would later claim the era's influence on their own music. The manager of the Damned and Generation X speaks of the difficult economies of booking punk shows at London clubs, and the camera also visits the influential retail watering hole, Rough Trade Records.

As stated before, though, it's with the live performance clips and not with the scattershot and mostly incomprehensible artist interviews that Punk In London shines. From the well-known (The Clash, Boomtown Rats) to the barely-known (Chelsea, the Lurkers), and quite a few in between, the film provides each band with an invaluable onstage forum to shine. The obscure (in the U.S., anyway) band Chelsea kicks out one of its better tunes, the politically-charged "Right To Work," with a muscular performance rife with spitting vocals and heavy riffs. In one of the better interview segments, the band's singer waxes eloquent about the plight of unemployed British youth and the lack of jobs.

X-Ray Spex was always an acquired taste, a band that I could take or leave depending on the song. Their performance here of their signature "Oh Bondage, Up Yours," however, is loud and obnoxious, frontwoman Poly Styrene spinning 'round the tiny stage while the band makes a lot of noise while standing still as mannequins. The song is crass and "in your face," and a perfect example of punk's manic energy at work.

An interview with the bassist of the Lurkers, another underappreciated band from the early punk era, is a real hoot, the young punk sitting in the living room of his parents' house with mom and pop in attendance. As the TV blares in the background, and his parents sit whit arms folded, he explains the political nature of punk. Another obscure group is the Killjoys, featuring a pre-Dexy's Midnight Runners Kevin Rowland, delivering a lively, guitar-driven spit-n-vinegar style of rock with a sexy female bassist, dual male/female vocals, and an interesting sound that, unlike many of their peers, is both complex and textured…a stiletto, if you will, rather than a bludgeon.

The highlight of Punk In London, though, is the early footage of the Jam and the Clash. The former are shown performing at the 100 Club, rocking "Carnaby Street" with reckless aplomb, clad in spiffy shirts-n-ties. The jackets come off for a raucous take of "In The City," the band working up a sweat on one of their best tunes. As for the latter, the Clash are shown performing in Germany, in a better-lit club with a stage more spacious than the dank, dark black holes that were London clubs at the time. "Police & Thieves," in particular, has a nice sonic resonance to the band's performance.

There are a number of other bands interviewed/performing on Punk In London, including the Adverts, Subway Sect, and the Boomtown Rats. DVD bonuses include an interview with the director, and the Clash's entire performance in Munich, which is a real treat for early punk fans.

Punk In England is the better of the two films, however, Büld taking a more expansive view of the musical culture of the U.K. to include ska, new wave, and other post-punk sounds. Filmed, I believe, a year or more after the initial 1978 documentary, Punk In England is still edited without an overall narrative, but rises above the first film not only because of the inclusion of better talents (the Pretenders and the Specials, along with the Jam and the Clash), but also because the musical segments are longer and more entertaining.

An opening interview with blowhard Bob Geldoff (showing, even at this early date, the preening sense of self-importance than won him his knighthood) is used as a pretext to "catch up with" the class of '77, an English-speaking narrator accounting for the fates of the first wave of British punk bands. Jump to the Clash, the band talking about bringing a greater subtlety to their music before delivering a live version of "Police & Thieves" that is much more mellow, syncopated, and dub-like than that on the first film, a performance more befitting of the song's Jamaican roots.

Büld obviously likes the Jam, but so do I, so no gripes here when he brings 'em back for this second film. Sporting different hair, different suits, and even better music, the band's bombastic "Eton Rifles" blows out the rafters and rattles the audience with an electric performance. Their cover of the Kinks' classic "David Watts" connects the Jam to its musical ancestry, and proves for once and for all that Paul Weller was the Ray Davies of his generation.

The Jams' success in the U.K. would lead to a revival of the Mods in England. During the 1960s portrayed by Quadrophenia, the suit-and-tie Mods would often clash with the leather-jacket-clad Rockers, but the "new Mods" of the 1980s…who would prefer to be called by the dubious moniker of "Glory Boys"…also liked to "suit up" and perform '60s-styled pop/rock in the vein of the Who and the Small Faces. The Mod revival had its own fave bands, and here Secret Affair kicks out their "Time For Action," the band pursuing a garage rock sound with horns blasting like a R&B revue on the Jersey shore.

Punk In England visits Coventry, a "boring industrial town in the middle of the U.K." where ska was re-born for the decade of the '80s. The Specials were the best-known of the new ska revivalists, called "2-tone" (also the band's indie record label) because of the radical multi-racial make-up of the bands. In many ways, the 2-tone pairing of ska's R&B influenced rhythms with the ferocity of punk and the racial aspects served to make bands like the Specials, the Selector, and English Beat more political than their punk rock colleagues.

There are a number of great ska performances here, including the Specials' haunting "Guns of Navarone" and the Selector's studio jam on "Too Much Pressure," the band full of life, the minimalistic lyrics contrasting with the song's rhythmic backdrop. In an interview, Madness, best known stateside for their minor MTV hit "One Step Beyond," talk about replacing the "computer records" of disco with live bands for people to dance to, their lively performances ranking full-stop on stage. In the interview, a band member accurately describes the ska-punk sound as "like white reggae, but faster."

Ian Dury was one of the era's more unlikely stars, his music a curious mix of pub rock, punk, and new wave sensibilities…a drunken, rockin' mess, in other words. His performance with the Clash of "Sweet Gene Vincent" displays the diminutive rocker's rowdy onstage charisma. Performing with his band the Blockheads, "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" remains one of Dury's best-known and enduring songs, his course talk-sing vocals slurring the nonsensical chorus as cacophonic, icy blasts of sax and a vaguely disco backbeat propel the song forward. Amazingly, the sax player wields two horns at once, albeit briefly, creating a truly otherworldly effect.

The high point of Punk In England is the appearance of the Pretenders in some of the first video footage shot of the band. For a long-time fan of the band, it's great to see all four original members rocking the sassy, swaggering "Brass In Pocket," displaying that even at this early date the band shared an undeniable chemistry. The Pretenders' live cover of the Kinks' "Stop Your Sobbing," which was a big hit in the U.K., is pure magic here, Chrissie Hynde's trembling vocals spot-on while the dual guitars and bass ring clearly above the rumbling sonic boom of Martin Chambers' drums.

A bonus feature on the Punk In England DVD is Büld's documentary "Women In Rock," which seems to be an edited version of his 1992 film Girls Bite Back. With a similar mix of interviews and live performances, the filmmaker expands his vision to include such diverse distaff rockers as Girlschool (heavy metal), Siouxie & the Banshees (Goth), and the Slits (art-punk). Although the first two bands deliver a number of inspired performances, the female members of the Slits spend too much time complaining about the misogynist conceit of the project focusing exclusively on women, while trying in vain to explain their "art."

Truth is, the punk and new wave movements circa 1978-82, opened the doors for female artists in a way unlike anything previous. Because of the barriers that were broken down by Poly Styrene, Gaye Advert, Honey Bane, and other women, a number of fresh, exciting female voices would move to the forefront of pop culture at the dawning of the 1980s. There are other artists that Büld could have included in his documentary – Toyah Wilcox, Lene Lovich, and Kate Bush come to mind – but I'll take it for what it is and be happy with the rare live performances the documentary features.

In the 30+ years since punk-rock first broke with the Damned, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols, the genre has become so rote, so ingrained in our musical culture, that it's easy to forget how edgy, how controversial, daring, and blasphemous the music once was. With Punk In London and Punk In England, Wolfgang Büld provides a reminder of why many of us found, in punk-rock, something to believe in…. (Music Video Distributors)

Related Content: Dave Thompson's Punk Rock Memories

(Click on the DVD covers to buy Punk In London and/or Punk In England from Amazon.com)

Dave Thompson's Punk Rock Memories

British music journalist Dave Thompson is a veteran author of rock 'n' roll biographies, penning dozens of books on folks like Iggy Pop, Kiss, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others over the past couple of decades. As frequently as he has turned his insight towards dissecting the life and art of others, however, this is the first time that Thompson has used his undeniable talent to look inward at his own life and experience.

Subtitled "True Adventures on the Front Lines of Punk 1976-1977," Thompson's excellent London's Burning is, as he calls it, a "memoir" without "too much me" included. Ostensibly the story of a year in the life of British punk rock, the teenage Thompson had a front seat to the birth and evolution of punk from a provincial underground phenomenon to a worldwide cultural revolution.

To tell this tale, Thompson relies on his own memories, and those of the many musicians that he has interviewed through the years, as well as those he spoke with specifically for the book. Beginning with the death of the glam-rock era and the lingering descent of pub-rock into obsolescence, Thompson's personalized history of the first stirrings of punk is developed from his youthful vinyl obsession and eager attendance at dozens of shows by early versions of bands like the Sex Pistols, the Adverts, the Stranglers, and the Damned, as well as his friendships with many of the music-makers.

Thompson marks the flashpoint of British punk rock with the first performance of American rocker Patti Smith, her powerful, primal sound launching a hundred bands. Although the story touches upon many of the aforementioned and better-known punk outfits, Thompson takes great care to include obscure (but no less talented or fondly remembered) bands like the Arrows, Radio Stars, and Heavy Metal Kids in his exploration of the music. Sometimes his stories are funny, sometimes poignant, and sometimes even harrowing as Thompson describes the racism present in mid-to-late-70s England, as well as the violence that would come to be leveled against anybody perceived as being a "punk rocker."

Thompson is being only a little disingenuous when he calls London's Burning a memoir without too much "me" because, in truth, it is the presence of his younger self, and that experience that is central to the book's immense charm. In remembering his youthful love of the music, and unbridled enthusiasm for the changes wrought by punk's ascendance, Thompson also reminds us of why the "Class of '77" was so important in the overall evolution of rock music. The stories and memories of the assembled musicians are vital to the story here, but it is Thompson's interaction and role as a documentarian that drives the book.

British punk rock circa 1977-79 has been covered in abundance, almost to the point of absurdity, by dozens of books and hundreds, if not thousands of magazine articles and even compilation albums. Few have the firsthand knowledge and experience of Dave Thompson, though, and the talent to express it so succinctly and in an entertaining manner. Nobody has the stories that Thompson has accumulated, making London's Burning the final word in '70s British punk rock. If you're an old-school punk fan, you should definitely check this one out….(Chicago Review Press)

Related: The Reverend's review of Thompson's I Hate New Music in Blurt Magazine

(Click on the book cover to buy London's Burning from Amazon.com)

Roadrunner Classix Revisited: Gang Green

For better than two decades – give or take a year here and there – Boston hardcore heroes Gang Green have pummeled suspecting audiences with the band’s own unique, over-the-top mind-muck consisting of equal parts fast-n-furious punk rock and clashing heavy metal bluster. Unlike the many of the band’s West Coast contemporaries at the time, weak sisters that were more concerned with politics and the environment, or else obsessed with death and destruction, our Beantown boys were just another bunch of lugnuts in love with sex and beer and skateboarding, Gang Green helping lay the foundation for the skatepunk culture that would follow.

Originally formed by vocalist/guitarist Chris Doherty in 1982, the band’s revolving-door line-up and Doherty’s scattergun approach to other projects (he played in three other bands circa 1982-85) resulted in Gang Green recording only a handful of songs for a compilation album, This Is Boston Not L.A. Doherty later revived the Gang Green name with a new band in 1985, recording a couple of EPs and the band’s full-length debut, Another Wasted Night, for Seattle’s Taang! Records label. The album included an energetic cover of ‘Til Tuesday’s hit song “Voices Carry” that would become a fan favorite and a regular part of Gang Green’s live show for years.

It wasn’t until the Gang Green line-up gelled around Doherty, drummer Brian Betzger, guitarist Fritz Erickson and bassist Joe Gittleman that the band found its true voice. This is the foursome that recorded the band’s legendary 1987 sophomore album, You Got It, as well as its equally-acclaimed follow-up, Older…Budweiser in 1989. Gittleman would later leave the band, joining the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones just in time for that band’s brief mid-90s shot at fame, while Gang Green would record the 1990 live set Can’t Live Without It, before being cut by Roadrunner and breaking up (again). Doherty and Betzger would take another shot at the brass ring with their underrated and sadly-overlooked punk-pop band Klover, but would go on to form yet another version of Gang Green in 1997 to record the band’s fourth studio album, Another Case Of Brewtality.

Released by metal label Roadrunner’s sister imprint Emergo Records in 1987, You Got It is, perhaps, the best representation of Gang Green’s dynamic, electric live sound that’s ever been captured in the studio. As much a lesson in speed-metal pyrotechnics as it is raging wildfire punk, the band kicks the pedal through the floorboard with the album’s very first track, “Haunted House,” a sub-two-minute raver with blistering guitar and incendiary drumbeats. Doherty’s voice is strained to the point of breaking, as notes fly out of your speaker like a tornado dissecting a trailer park. From this point, You Got It just gets even more dangerous and out-of-control….

“We’ll Give It To You” begins with a guitar intro that might sound like any ‘70s-era classic rock band if not for the intensity afforded the fretwork, the skatepunk anthem suddenly leaping headfirst into a blur of Motorhead-styled metallic riffs and furious rhythms. A blizzard of ringing chords kicks you in the crux of yer trousers, then “Sheetrock” spirals rapidly into a menacing bludgeon, fitting the listener for a pair o’ concrete galoshes before breaking into a fine extended showcase for Doherty’s manic six-string work. The muscular “Ballerina Massacre” thunders like a quartet of apocalyptic horsemen; Betzger’s drumwork is simply breathtaking, kind of like being smothered by a lead pillow (sans cotton cover), while Doherty and/or Erickson throw a little thrash-n-bash fretwork into the cement mixer along with the listeners’ battered bodies.

There are lots of other fine psychotic breakdowns to be found on You Got It, from the almost-oi Brit-styled ear-thuggery of “Born To Rock” and the 90mph hardcore flash of “Another Bomb” to the fiery City-Of-Angel-inspired diabolism of “Party With The Devil” or the thinly-veiled rivethead evil of “Sick Sex Six.” Throw this tasty little sucker into your CD player, hit ‘shuffle’ and then ‘repeat’ and prepare to be assaulted by a couple hours of high-octane, old school wall-o-sonic-fury hardcore punk, the sensation not unlike running headfirst and banging yer skull against a breeko-block wall a time or three. The game’s over when either the CD stops playing or you slump to the floor, unconscious. DO NOT play more than once a day or you’ll only be fit for a job in the Oval Office, or fitted for a straitjacket (or both)!

Lovingly remastered with an ear towards both the sonic highs and the lows, You Got It is one of MVD Audio’s Roadrunner Classix reissue series CDs, released on a shiny gold disc in a numbered limited edition of 2,000 copies. You Got It is a good choice for the deluxe treatment, arguably representing Gang Green’s best album and, from a historical perspective, providing an important bridge between punk and heavy metal that would become more important as ‘90s alt-rock crashed-and-burned at the end of the decade. Besides, You Got It is more fun than chugging a case of Budweiser and riding your board on that razor-thin rail between heaven and hell, or maybe putting frogs down yer lil’ brother’s boxers…your choice, meathead. (MVD Audio)

(Click on the CD cover to buy You Got It from Amazon.com)

Back On The Road With The Warped Tour

It’s kind of like the annual return of the swallows to Capistrano, the return of the Warped Tour to a city near you every summer. The first rainy days of spring also mean that there will be a new Warped Tour compilation CD released, two-discs chock-full o’ punk, metal, ska…well, you name the sub-sub-sub-genre of your choice…just a veritable crapload of music at a price to fit damn near anyone’s budget.

Warped Tour 2007 Compilation is this year’s erstwhile collection, with an even-steven 50 tracks presented on two CDs, diversely ranging across just about every alt-genre of rock music that you could dream up. The Reverend eagerly awaits each year’s tour comp ‘cause, for this scribe’s hard-earned coin, there’s no better way to A) discover new bands that you haven’t heard and B) find out what your old favorites are up to these days. The 2007 collection includes a number of category ‘B’ bands like Bad Religion, Tiger Army, Strung Out and the Toasters and a bunch of category ‘A’ bands that the Reverend wants to check out, so let’s just chase the best of the bunch down by category and see how they rate, shall we?

CATEGORY A

I Am Ghost – Our Friend Lazarus Sleeps
A melodic, metal-edged rocker with machine-gun pacing and mostly clean vocals, I Am Ghost an energetic band worth hearing more from.

Amber Pacific – Summer (In B)
Nice drum-rolls to jumpstart this snotty pop-punk tune, Amber Pacific displaying plenty of guts and drive. That’s some sweet fretwork on the break, smart lyrics and an overall vibrant wall-of-clashing-sound to the song that sets it a notch above your typical three-chord punkers.

Street Dogs – Fading American Dream
Street Dogs remind me of Stiff Little Fingers back in the good old days of punk yore, the song evincing a sort of Celt-punk vibe with smart, socially-conscious lyrics, a great guitar chorus, oi-oi-oi-styled vox and an infectious rant-n-roll feel; taken from the album of the same name, which the Reverend will be acquiring sometime soon.

The Briggs – Song Of Babylon
This Briggs' tune makes it two high-octane rockers in a row, this one with a folkish tint to the lyrics and delivery, backed by an undeniably rock-n-roll soundtrack. Jason LaRocca’s vocals are gruff and weary, just the way I like ‘em, the band sounding like a cross between Rancid and Social Distortion, with a glimpse of roots-rock edging in around the corners of the Briggs’ punk rock roots.

Gallows – Rolling With The Punches
The latest sensation that’s sweeping the nation, UK hardcore heroes Gallows kick out the jams with an inspired mix of US rkrs like Black Flag and Minor Threat and ancestral Britpunx like Conflict, Crass and the Clash. There’s more than meets the eye (and ear) going on behind the curtain with Rolling With The Punches; beneath frontman Frank Carter’s screamed vox there’s a wealth of complex instrumentation, interesting musical choices backing up disturbingly intelligent and insightful lyrics. Another band worth keeping tabs on, expect to hear good things in the future from Gallows.

Bayside – Duality
The song’s got a popish feel to it, and the melody is undeniably Top 40, but Bayside is nevertheless 100% punk rock. Nice vocal gymnastics on the lead with lyrics jumping all over the place, and the guitarwork is alternately stiletto sharp and as blunt as a collapsing building.

Gogol Bordello – 60 Revolutions
Heard a lot about these exotic musical gypsies through the years, but somehow managed to dodge actually hearing much from them until now. Busy, busy music delivered with punkish spunk and an Eastern European vibe; kind of disconcerting and yet somehow seductive, kind of like a bad movie. There’s lots of non-traditional (for punk and/or rock) instrumentation here, accordions and horns and strange-o stringed axes kicking out an inspired and acquired taste of traditional Slavic folk, three-chord punk and Caribbean riddims.

Bedouin Soundclash – Until We Burn In The Sun
Bedouin Soundclash is another bunch of burgers that the Reverend had heard a lot of words about but experienced very little in the way of sounds. Until We Burn In The Sun is an engaging bit of dub-sliced echoplex rock with washboard rhythms, rapidfire vocals, lysergic instrumentation and brilliant lyrical imagery. A little something-something different for the Hot Topic kids, an inspired blending of dub/reggae and punk flavor originating from, of all places, Canada. Go figure, and then go check out Bedouin Soundclash.

The Higher – Insurance?
Many teenaged Warped Tour attendees and some of the band members are young enough to be the Reverend’s grandchildren, so it should come as no surprise that ‘disco’ and ‘new wave’ are just things that they’ve heard in old movies. I really wanted to dislike the Higher’s Insurance? ‘cause of the song’s horribly disco-reminiscent rhythms, but the song’s infectious new wave vibe, with plinking keys-and-synths, and singer Seth Trotter’s naïve vocals crooning confessional lyrics, make the Higher hard to dismiss.

CATEGORY B

Bad Religion – Requiem For Dissent
A blistering entry from the band’s latest CD, New Maps Of Hell, this song kicks serious ass, with sonic fretwork, anthemic vocals and arrangement and an overall larger-than-life feel. Nobody…and I mean nobody…delivers this sort of righteous political-punk song with more venom and intelligence than Bad Religion.

Only Crime – Take Me
A rumbling bassline and feedback-laden intro kicks into a runaway train of a song, pop-punk with a hardcore edge and an overall nervous, over-amped vibe like you get when drinking too much Rock Star™ energy drink. Mmmm…delicious!

Paramore – This Circle
This will be a cat ‘A’ band for most listeners, but the Reverend fell for Paramore’s charms back during the band’s earliest Music City origins. Disjointed, guitar-heavy jambo matched by explosive rhythms and power-play drumbeats, singer Hayley Williams’ gorgeous, tortured vocals rising high above the chaos to tickle your ears and rip your heart out. Not necessarily punk, but defiantly (and enthusiastically) coming from a punk POV.

The Casualties – In It For Life
A little hardcore hair o’ the dog for what bit you, the Casualties cranking up the amps and cranking out a defiant, anthemic call-to-arms with pterodactyl-styled vocals, hoarse shouted harmonies, searing red-hot fretwork and blast-beat-drum-din, captured live in a dive somewhere across the fruited plain.

The Toasters – You’re Gonna Pay
Nobody does the ska-punk thing better, or even longer, than the Toasters, the band still ranking full-stop after a quarter-century. You’re Gonna Pay is a fierce, horn-driven rocker from the band’s latest, One More Bullet, which deserves your immediate investment of much coin if you ever, ever enjoyed a note of ska-punk goodness.

Piebald – Oh, The Congestion
A perfect example of guitar-driven rock with delightfully-imperfect vocals courtesy of Piebald frontman Travis Shettel, Oh, The Congestion is a musical cross between Weezer and the Violent Femmes. That is to say that the song and Piebald, the band, inhabit a rarified indie-rock turf that allows them the freedom to rock the moon while throwing in enough punkish fervor to keep the young ‘uns happy as snakes on a flat rock.

Strung Out – Calling
Longtime punk rock stalwarts Strung Out have always defied expectations, and the synth-driven cry-for-help Calling is no exception. With blastbeating drum-rolls, turbo-charged six-strings and harmonic vocals, the song roars along like a joyriding jetfighter.

Mad Caddies – State Of Mind
Normally riddim-happy ska-punks with a purpose, the Mad Caddies get all moody and introspective here on State Of Mind, an atmospheric rocker with a dark, downplayed ska rhythmic foundation and scary deep lyrical prose. It’s a totally unexpected direction for this always-enjoyable outfit, the song nevertheless fitting like tailor-made vines.

Aside from the Reverend’s Category ‘A’ and Category ‘B’ bands reviewed above, there are 33 other reasons for you to pick up a copy of the Warped Tour 2007 Compilation CD and/or check out the tour when it hits a stage near you, including Killswitch Engage, Tiger Army, Haste The Day, Guff, Smoke Or Fire, the Used, the Unseen and many more. So get thee hence to your local shoppe and grab up a copy of the Warped Tour 2007 Compilation CD or else the boogieman gonna get you! [Band names link to their web sites] (Side One Dummy Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy a copy of Warped Tour 2007 Compilation from Amazon.com)