A Band Called Death (Jeff Howlett and Mark Covino)

[Henry Gale]

IMDb

[Henry Gale]

Like Anvil and Sugar Man before it, it's an underdog comeback rock documentary ultimately designed to inspire and shed light on unsung heroes of their eras, but for some reason this one hit me a lot harder emotionally and really struck a chord in an unexpectedly strong way. Maybe it's because it really zeros in on the family hardships and their personal journey of trying to navigate through everything that transpired against their faith and assumed destinies (career, personal, and ultimate legacies), attempting to make sense of everything happening to them in a broader context beyond the music itself, all essentially leading to and being affirmed by the very film we're watching. It also doesn't construct its narrative with any bait-and-switches like the other two films I mentioned and its vivid, first-hand accounts of every tiny moment reflected on are delivered so lovingly.

Just such a fantastic joy to watch, from the brothers at the center of it, to the unknowingly ahead-of-its-time music they concocted, to the deft filmmaking that siphons the sprawling story behind them into such an awesome piece to last forever. Long live Death.

**** / A

[D_Davis]

Really want to see this. Love music docs, especially Genghis Blues.

[Pop Trash]

I enjoyed this quite a bit with a few caveats. For one thing, for a band that was from Detroit making proto-punk music in the early 70s, the doco sure danced around the fact that The Stooges and The MC5 got there first. Although, unless someone unearths another forgotten band, they were the first black punk rock band beating Bad Brains by a number of years.

I also saw this with the most annoyingly snide punk/hipster (punkster? punky brewster?) audience imaginable. They kept laughing and commenting at random things even when the film was clearly in poignant/reflective mode. Yes people wore funny clothes in the 70s. Yes people get enthusiastic about bands and email indie record labels about them. Yes Alice Cooper had a direct affect on punk in the 70s (not just Death but also The Sex Pistols). Now will you kindly shut up?

[Thirdmango]

For anyone that doesn't know this is now on netflix and it is amazing. I just watched it and I'm totally blown away at how good it is. The first half I was just sort of enjoying some documentary about some band I had never heard of and then the second half floored me. It's a whole bunch of cool random moments that happen and it makes the whole thing amazing.