Album Review: Punk's Not Dead - 'DVD'

“Punk's Not Dead” isn't a

documentary that's been put together by a major label in an attempt

to increase Good Charlotte's (who actually appear in this film) record

sales. It's actually a well researched and informative documentary that

is the end result of a lot hard work from an American punk rock fan,

Susan Dynner. Covering everything from the rise of punk in the UK in

the 1970's right through to modern day, MTV celebrities, “Punk's Not

Dead” is an depth look at how some of your favourite bands came to

be. 

The first section of the film

is littered with interviews and opinion pieces from some of the most

long standing figures in the UK and US punk rock scenes. Although it

may come across as a little cliché, Mike Ness' (Social Distortion)

spiel about growing up as a punk in the 70's and 80's may encourage

some younger music fans to research the genre's roots a little more

and actually appreciate just how lucky they are in this day and age. 

While a lot of the interviews

are really interesting I felt that some of the more seasoned punk bands

(particularly the UK groups) could've spent more time focusing on the

highlights of that period rather than dwelling on how loathed they were

by society... although the footage of “The Addicts” still touring

in a van with most (if not all) members in their 40's puts more of a

positive spin on things. 

Given that my interest in punk

lies in the whole So Cal explosion of the 90's, the early footage of

bands like Rancid, Greenday and The Offspring was really cool. It makes

it almost hard to believe that the same bands are who still headlining

stadiums today started off playing in their friend's lounge room's,

just like everybody else. A candid interview with Billie Joe Armstrong

(Greenday) was refreshing in its honesty, as he makes a clear point

of never being interested in towing the line and sounding like his peers,

but wanting to focus more on melody and more traditional song writing.  

To all the kids out there who

are thinking about starting record labels (legit record labels, not

your fully sick MySpace photography/record label page) I suggest you

pay close attention to what Brett Gurewitz has to say. He started Epitaph

Records as a way of helping out his friend's bands, nothing more, nothing

less. The fact that his friend's bands included NoFX, Pennywise and

L7 might be seen as something of a fluke but the point remains the same.

Epitaph was started out of a love for the music, not to

make a quick buck.  

“Punk's Not Dead” has done

an admirable job of mixing the old and the new and is definitely worth

watching, whether you're 40 and still repping a mohawk or your 15 and

you've just discovered the genre.

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