I’m extremely excited for two upcoming music documentaries. One is Ain’t In It For My Health, about the late-great Levon Helm, who I love. The other is A Band Called Death, about the proto-punk all-black 1970s rock group Death, who I know next to nothing about. And that is entirely the appeal of the film for me. This is a documentary of rediscovery…
Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was a band called Death. Punk before punk existed, three teenage brothers in the early ’70s formed a band in their spare bedroom, began playing a few local gigs and even pressed a single in the hopes of getting signed. But this was the era of Motown and emerging disco. Record companies found Death’s music – and band name – too intimidating, and the group were never given a fair shot, disbanding before they even completed one album. Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family love story, A Band Called Death chronicles the incredible fairy-tale journey of what happened almost three decades later, when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of the attic and found an audience several generations younger. Playing music impossibly ahead of its time, Death is now being credited as the first black punk band (hell…the first punk band!), and are finally receiving their long overdue recognition as true rock pioneers.
Drafthouse Films snatched up the doc, which is currently available via digital download and VOD. It will begin a limited theatrical release on June 28th. If you live in Los Angeles I recommend trying to grab the remaining tickets to either The Cinefamily’s Friday June 28 or Saturday June 29 shows, as both screenings will feature a live performance by Death themselves. I will most certainly be there.