Why should we give a rat's @$$ about an obscure music scene from sleepy Vancouver, Canada?
While mainstream radio and television weren't interested in V-punk bands like D.O.A., the Subhumans, The Young Canadians, Pointed Sticks, Modernettes and UJ3RK5, musicians like Duff McKagan (Guns n' Roses/Velvet Revolver), Jello Biafra (The Dead Kennedys), Henry Rollins and Kurt Cobain were listening closely.
In Bloodied but Unbowed, director Susanne Tabata sheds a light on Vancouver's 1970's punk scene. More influential than successful, this fertile underground scene not only left an impression on 1980's DIY rockers, but also the Seattle grunge explosion. Combining modern interviews with archival footage of Punkcouver bands throwing down, the film raises a Kokanee to those who survived the era, and those who did not.
Susanne Tabata Directs Bloodied but Unbowed, Starring Joe Keithley, Art Bergmann
In telling the story of V-punk, Tabata and narrator Billy Hopeless (The Black Haloes) get plenty of face-time with many figures in the scene, including three of the most influential: D.O.A. guitarist/frontman Joey "S***head" Keithley plus the Subhumans bassist Gerry "Useless" Hannah and vocalist Brian "Wimpy" Goble. These three childhood friends lead two of the biggest bands in V-punk and shaped the scene in important ways. D.O.A. was not only Canada's answer to Black Flag, but pursued an even more punishing road schedule than that legendary hardcore band.
Due to its isolation, V-punk had a very different flavour. Thanks to non-stop rain, Vancouver punks were more musically proficient than most hardcore outfits. D.O.A.'s Chuck Biscuits' speedy-but-swinging style made him arguably the best drummer in hardcore - he would later pound the skins for Black Flag, Danzig and Social Distortion.
Vancouver punks didn't take themselves too seriously. For proof, look not just at the many self-deprecating nicknames but also D.O.A.'s motto: "The Dawning of a New Error". Often members of different groups would form "F**k Bands" and play cover gigs. Despite this, there was a strangling elitism: Tim Ray was branded a "sell-out" once his art career took off and the Payola$ were dissed for their major-label ambition, plus guitarist Bob Rock's production leanings. Rock eventually became a top producer, manning the boards for Metallica, Michael Bublé and Mötley Crüe.
V-punks were also more politically active. D.O.A. supported many left-wing causes while Gerry Hannah took direct action to the extreme: bombing a BC Hydro substation, a factory and three adult video stores as a member of the infamous Vancouver Five. In his segment, Hannah expresses his regret for his DIY terrorism: his point that left wingers bombing adult video stores could easily inspire right-wingers to bomb abortion clinics is a sobering thought.
But it's Bergmann who provides the film with its greatest pathos. Once considered a first-rate song writing talent, the brilliant but tortured musician appears as a pale ghost of his former self, admitting that he hasn't written a song in years. His scenes give a lie to the film's title: he is both bloodied and bowed.
Bloodied but Unbowed a Tribute to Vancouver's Punk Scene of the 1970's
A tribute to an artistic and musical explosion that should have been bigger than it was, Bloodied but Unbowed gets a 3.5/5.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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