This Christmas my little brother gave me a small tattoo
using a needle, a lighter, some Indian ink and the trust that his undergraduate
art degree meant he was good as this DIY stuff. What was it of? A square,
spectacled, odd little emblem - a caricature of Milo Aukerman, the sometimes
singer of the Descendents.
Now obviously tattoos are the norm nowadays and for the most
part connote a notion of “cool” but so far none of mine could be considered
such. Wrestling logos, Dickens novels and now some pop-punk dweeb feature on my
naturally disgusting body, but this isn’t about tattoos. This is about a band,
a documentary film and a tweet I read the night after I got my Milo.
Descendents forever. Both literally and figuratively in my
case. This tweet, the square-in-both-senses drawing on my ankle and my recent
viewing of Filamge: The Story of
Descendents / ALL got me thinking just why I, and so many others (evidently
including the awesome pop-punk group The Swellers), love this band.
However,
it’s not just an A-grade punk history lesson that Filmage provides. Directors Deedle Lacour and Matt Riggle manage to
capture the very essence of the band through their fast paced, light hearted
documentary. They portray the confusion that fuels Descendents with a firm
clarity, detailing the juxtapositions of exactly why a cherished lead singer
chose being a scientist over a rockstar, why the band morphed into the
side-group ALL and exactly how that silly little logo came to mean so much to
so many. Every grim, flatulant and embarassing story is revealed and that’s
what makes it such an accurate reflection of the group. Descendents are farts,
doing your homework, wanking because you can’t get laid, choosing petri dishes
over platinum records and ultimately fantasising over what it must be like to
NOT be a Descendent.
So many bands, particularly in the punk genre have an overblown sense of self-importance, but not Bill, Milo and co. Descendents capture first world problems with the unexplainable aggression with which they occur. Their music has more to do with being annoyed at a girl you’ve never actually spoke to than the regime of a democratically elected president and above all captures that quintessential problem of youth; being bored.
Despite
this Filmage is far from tedious.
Unlike many rockumentaries it is able to provide clips from the bands
discography to soundtrack the film, keeping you continously hooked and offering
engaging moments where you could actually visably witness members of the
audience’s face light up, as a track perhaps not heard since they left their
parents basement twenty years ago rages into the spotlight.
Filmage: The Story of
Descendents/ ALL is essential viewing for everyone with an interest in music. Whether,
you’ve got the Milo tattoo, are simply curious about those weird album covers,
or just fancy watching a music film that doesn’t centre around doom and drugs,
this is entirely for you.
Descendents
Forever.