"Clockwork Orange County" DVD (director: Jonathan W.C. Wills)

Superb punk doc

This is a well-done documentary focused on the early rise of West Coast punk rock, dating back to the early 80s. Director Wills got in touch with the right people to interview, to be sure. Included here are conversations with members of T.S.O.L., the Adolescents, Social Distortion, Circle Jerks (Keith Morris), Dead Kennedys (Jello Biafra), Black Flag (Henry Rollins), and plenty of others. 

As it turns out, the SoCal punk scene was indebted to the small club owned by Jerry Roach called the Cuckoo's Nest, which supported most of these early punk bands in a time when punk was considered threatening and dangerous, and fights with "rednecks" and the police were commonplace. "Clockwork Orange County" features plenty of first-hand accounts of this era, when punk was new and idealistic. Wills even deemed it worthy to include some new bands to discuss this classic era with, all of whom admit a tremendous debt to these punk pioneers. It's a fascinating and well-presented documentary, and something any true fan of American punk should see.

Celebrity Home Entertainment via MVD Visual

"Punk Rock Karaoke" DVD+CD

A novelty item, for sure, but kinda fun in a throwaway sorta way. The CD is a solid covers disc, featuring various all-star guest vocalists (like Dicky from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, Jim Lindberg of Pennywise, Dave King of Flogging Molly, and Jordan Pundik of New Found Glory(??)) covering classics by Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, Dickies, Buzzcocks, Black Flag, Stiff Little Fingers (the awesome 'Suspect Device'), etc. Unnecessary, but amusing.
The DVD features these songs as videos, as well as a section of instrumental cuts with the lyrics so you can, theoretically, 'perform' these yourself in the comfort of your own TV room. Likely fun in a bar setting, with the all-star band (members of NOFX, Circle Jerks, Adolescents, Agent Orange, etc.) backing you up. On disc it's rendered reasonably feeble. Some additional footage of live audience members singing these songs is entertaining, with some solid performances (among the embarrassing), but overall this is a pretty lightweight and forgettable set. (MVD Visual)

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