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?
The official press release for the movie states, "American Hardcore traces this lost subculture, from it's early roots in 1980 to it's extinction in 1986." Their reason for neglecting the bands I mentioned, and for barely touching on the New York hardcore scene, is that director Paul Rachman and writer Steven Blush want you to believe that hardcore died in 1986. This is the typical elitist bulls--t you see from people who are bitter that they're not 17 anymore -- the kind of nonsense you get from people who want exclusive rights to say they were a part of something, and you weren't. The fact is, hardcore has been around since the early '80s and it's still going strong today, thanks to bands like Agnostic Front, Sick Of It All, Suicidal Tendencies -- all bands that never quit or moved on.
For all the accomplishments of bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag, they walked away after a few short years. The bands I'm mentioning took the torch from them, and carried it -- supporting and sustaining this scene to this very day. The proof of that is this movie itself. If hardcore were really dead, as they claim, then there would be no interest in a film called "American Hardcore." The only reason these clowns can make a movie with "Hardcore" in the title is because hardcore is still thriving, and there's a whole new generation that's interested in its roots.
Basically, what I'm trying to say (for those of you who haven't seen the film) is that everything is in the eye of the beholder. Every generation has their version of what they consider the "glory days" For me, my favorite era of metal and hardcore was the mid '80s when bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Agnostic Front, the Cro Mags were tearing it up. But for me to go and denounce everything that came after that would be ignorant. To say that hardcore died in the '80s, '90s, or whenever, is to deny people their chance to be a part of something that has become a worldwide scene.
Later this year, we're going to begin work on a Madball DVD, and one of the special bonus features will be our rebuttal to "American Hardcore." We're gonna interview the people that were missed, or weren't given proper time in the movie. Stay tuned!
We're not sure if this is gonna be included on the DVD or not, but here's Madball's video for "Heaven-Hell":
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