Punk: Attitude

Obviously making a documentary on the history and progression of punk rock is very difficult- many people debate where it started, how it started, who started it, etc, etc. Punk: Attitude manages to crystallize, utilizing and excellent array of interviews with figures who were actually part of the scene, all the different strains of punk into one solid, cohesive unit and gives a very accurate and insightful look into just what punk is and what it means.

The documentary starts off with the menagerie of punk influences, from the Stooges and the Velvet Underground to MC5 and the New York Dolls, covering not just the bands and artists who musically influenced what would become punk but the people that set the punk aesthetic. They pay due respect to a whole host of seminal punk bands, starting in the New York scene and shifting to the British scene, all the while analyzing how the music was changing and what it was saying. It then gracefully moves into American hardcore punk with bands like Black Flag, Agnostic Front, and the Dead Kennedys, also paying respect to such hugely influential bands as Minor Threat and Bad Brains. It all starts to fall apart, though, when they mention Nirvana pulling together bits and pieces of the last decade of punk rock and creating a product that the public could stomach. From there they give passing mentions to Green Day, Blink 182, Sum 41, and Rancid, acting as if that's all there is to the current punk scene. The documentary completely fails to recognize bands like Bad Religion, the Descendents, the Circle Jerks (although they interview its singer about different topics), NOFX, Operation Ivy, the Offspring, and all of recent punk bands gaining popularity. Modern punk is not just Green Day and Blink 182, and is arguably far more diverse and fully formed than ever before. It was disappointing to see the documentary turn a cold shoulder to the current crop of punk bands when it handled punk's history up until then so well.

Overall, though, the point of the documentary is to look at the impact society had on punk and conversely the impact punk had on society, and in this respect, it excels. It looks at countless facets of life this abrasive form of music has affected and really opens your eyes to the truth that punk rock is so much more than just a bunch of kids screaming. Highly recommended despite its shoddy coverage of punk's current phase.

I watched this last night and was thoroughly hooked from the first moment to almost the very end. As someone old enough to remember walking down Portobello Road in the summer of 1976 and thinking "something really weird is going on", it was a marvellous exercise in nostalgia for ME, but I was wondering what a young person would make of it all. I think they would find it interesting but I don't know if they would necessarily understand just how revolutionary the whole thing was. It would have been good to have included some short clips of contemporary mainstream acts such as Abba, Yes, Fleetwood Mac etc just to provide some reference points for what Punk was rebelling against. As the man who virtually single-handedly introduced reggae to the punk scene, Letts is admirably modest about his own contribution but in a way it would have been more accurate if he had allowed his many interviewees to sing his praises a little more. I thought Chrissie Hynde was the most insightful (as usual) and the women in general gave more interesting interviews than the men. One aspect of Punk was that it was almost completely un-sexist and this was thoroughly recalled and explained. The more unsavoury aspects of Punk: the neo-fascism, the glorification of hard drugs, the violence - these were rather glossed over, I felt. The despicable inhumanity of the hardcore scene in the US in the early 80s was hardly mentioned, nor were the psychotic antics and subsequent suicide of G G Allin. Neither were the abominable Oi bands mentioned, with their extreme right-wing Nazi leanings. Although I can understand Lett's not wanting to give them any publicity, any history of Punk that fails to acknowledge the extremely dark places that some of it led to is incomplete. Although the film suffers from the usual shortcomings of music documentaries - ie. the vintage clips are too short and the interview clips are too long - as an attempt to celebrate the positive aspects of Punk it is completely successful. Too bad Johnny Rotten and Iggy Pop obviously refused to take part, or Lou Reed for that matter. Never mind. This is a very worthwhile film and anyone who is interested in the Punk phenomenon will find it fascinating.

I have nothing really bad to say about the first hour of it. It's actually helpful if you want to know the history of "early" punk ie The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, The MC5, and The Count Five. I loved The Damned footage of them playing New Rose. The Clash and The Sex Pistols seem to get all the attention though when the UK punk scene is discussed. No mention of Wire or Joy Division.

But I have to agree with another person who observed how they left out a crucial chunk of hugely influential post-punk 80's American groups: The Minutemen, Husker Du, The Replacements, and The Pixies and set the stage for pretty much every band afterwards. No mention of Devo either.

The film also makes the West Coast punk scene seem like it died in 1982 or something. Nothing against Black Flag, Germs, X, Circle Jerks, or Dead Kennedys but it gets old mentioning these groups, it really does. It would've been nice to see Fishbone mentioned and how punk splintered into a ska phase throughout the 80's and beyond, particularly on the West Coast.

And Henry Rollins does his usual "ambiguous" put down of the West Coast punk scene: "How can you have sun, fun, hot chicks, and punk rock?" Well Mr. Rollins, was Black Flag an East Coast punk band? Big fat no, they're from the West Coast, which is a band he joined by the way.

I also observed there was also no coverage or even mention of the Riot Girl scene in Olympia, WA and D.C. of the early 90's ie Bikini Kill and Sleater Kinney. They paved the way for bands like Le Tigre, The Gossip, and The Capricorns who are really responsible for the disco-punk explosion that groups are now reaping the rewards from like VHS or Beta, The Rapture, and Bloc Party.

The majority of the Riot Girl bands have outspoken leftist politics and are lesbian and to me that's more relevant than some old geezers reminiscing about a bye gone era and sticking their middle fingers at the camera and saying f*** you.

And then to end it with footage of Limp Bizkit, Green Day, and Sum 41 is an insult to fans because those bands don't represent how punk evolved but how punk got commodified. Overall, I got the feeling that the filmmaker's opinion on just who is punk, and what is punk is rather one-dimensional and subject to his own "punk" aesthetics.

Punk: Attitude is a documentary directed by Don Letts. An important figure in the punk explosion in England circa 1976, Letts has always held the subject of punk rock close to his heart. Here he explores the "punk" revolution, its roots and its impact on modern rock music. The cast features the likes of David Johansen, Thurston Moore, Tommy Ramone, Chrissie Hynde, Henry Rollins, Captain Sensible, Jim Jarmusch, Mick Jones, Jello Biafra, Howard Devoto and Glen Matlock. To name but a few!

As the title suggests, this is about the attitude that is essential to the make up of the punk rock genre. This is not a film that is telling you lies about its time-lines or an attempt to ensure the viewers know how important punk was in the pantheon of music. It's refreshingly honest, in fact what is the most striking thing about Letts' movie is that this is no stroll down a rose tinted glassy memory lane. For sure there's warmth in recollections from many of the big shakers, while some of the old footage clips of the bands are sure to stir strong emotions in fans, but nobody is trying to hide the genre limitations of punk. Letts threads it nicely as a triple bill of birth, death and revival. Starting out with an attitude nod of acknowledgement to Jerry Lee Lewis and other more daring 50s & 60s acts, the film starts gaining its worth with some well spent time in the company of The New York Dolls, Velvet Undeground, MC5 and of course Iggy Pop & his Stooges. The influence of such luminaries of course comes as no surprise to any old punker such as I, but for new parties interested in punk this serves as an essential piece of film.

Into the mid 70s where of course things got serious and both America and England witnessed what in all essence was "thee" punk rock explosion. Again the principals don't hold back, telling it as it was and even debunking some myths. There's even some resentment in there, but Letts is canny enough to not let this become another boorish America Vs England who started punk section of his film. He also widens the scope to involve many artists who never get a look in when the topic is covered on the page or on the screen. Rest assured this is not a Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned and Ramones retread overkill, time is rightly afforded to Poly Styrene (X Ray Spex), Howard Devoto & Pete Shelley (The Buzzcocks), Siouxsie Sioux (Siouxsie & The Banshees) & Ari Up (The Slits). Important movers with important and interesting things to say. And so it proves as the story arc moves forward to post 70s punk; New Wave/ No Wave, Hardcore et al, all given thought and time with the likes of Henry Rollins (Black Flag), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), who not only link the narrative, but expand it further too.

Obviously in a film such as this it's inevitable that not every genre fan will be happy. For every ten bands featured, there is another twenty bands who many will believe should have been put in for acknowledgement and opinion. As is the case for some of the offshoots of punk such as the Oi! movement or the British second and third waves that encompassed street and speed punk. In truth the 80s does get a little passed over due to the time afforded the 70s, but that's forgivable surely since that was the prominent time and the time when music got a kick up the backside. Besides which, to cover everything appertaining to punk we would need a film of Lord Of The Rings Trilogy type excess! 8/10

Letts tops himself, and I didn't think that was possible after his excellent documentary on The Clash. This is the finest broad survey of punk ever. It suggests that punk is an attitude at the heart of rock, which existed before there was a "punk rock" per se. As soon as "punk rock" appears, you have little scenesters making necessities of virtues, imposing orthodoxies that undermine the freedom that the music longed for or expressed. Tons of interviews with the pantheon of punk royalty, but it is often the forgotten geniuses who never made significant commercial indentation that have the most to offer. Punk also has the virtue of many short & tight tunes, so there is less excerpting of musical performances than one sees in 99% of music documentaries. Is there a soundtrack available?