
The dudes in Madball were so pissed off after watching the hardcore documentary film "American Hardcore" that they decided to take matters into their own fists. Not only did guitarist Mitts write an angry guest blog about the production, he and his bandmates have decided to shoot footage with the band's the documentary overlooked, and release is as a bonus feature on their next DVD. Now, that's hardcore. Now here's Mitts explaining what got Madball all riled up:
While we were on tour this summer, we had a day off in a small town that didn't have much to offer in terms of night life. So, instead of going into town and finding trouble, we decided to hang at our hotel and watch a movie. Someone had lent us a copy of "American Hardcore," and, naturally, we were interested in checking it out.
By the end of the night the four members of Madball were very angry, to say the least. Now, if you haven't seen this movie, I will say some things later that will be of interest, simply because they apply to stuff outside what the movie covered or didn't cover. If you did see this two hour piece of garbage, here's some stuff that needs to be addressed.
First off, it would be unfair to completely write off everything that was featured in the movie. They did a great job covering the early roots of how punk transformed into hardcore around the time of the late '70s and early '80s. There's no denying the massive impact made by bands such as the Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Black Flag, etc. However, the writer and director spent way too much time mentioning bands that were simply following trends (I won't name names), and far too little time focusing on pioneering bands such as Agnostic Front (whose first release came our in 1982), Cro Mags, D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies. They also spent a great deal of the movie discussing local scenes in California, Boston, D.C., -- while almost completely neglecting New York. How can you leave out New York? Maybe I'm a little biased, having grown up in the New York hardcore scene, but at least give it equal time, no? Read more...