Fresh
An especially pointed variation on one of music's most oft-told tales: A band formed ahead of its time sits in muffled obscurity while others reap the harvest of what it first planted.
Geoff Pevere, Globe and Mail
A Band Called Death
This Band was Punk, before Punk was Punk
2013 · 1h 36m · Not Rated
Documentary, Music
Directed by
Mark Christopher Covino
,
Jeff Howlett
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A Band Called Death
Overview
Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was Death. Formed in the early '70s by three teenage brothers from Detroit, Death is credited as being the first black punk band, and the Hackney brothers, David, Bobby, and Dannis, are now considered pioneers in their field. But it wasn’t until recently — when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of Bobby’s attic nearly 30 years after Death’s heyday — that anyone outside a small group of punk enthusiasts had even heard of them.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
94%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Fortunately, Bobby and Dannis, the surviving brothers, prove genial company.
Peter Keough, Boston Globe
Fresh
If the brothers seem a little drunk on their own myth, they're also genuinely humbled by the band's rediscovery and warmed by the fact that their kids have carried on the family tradition.
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Fresh
A Band Called Death shines the light on a previously unexplored corner of musical history and does it in an accessible, straightforward manner.
Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
Fresh
Their story can feel almost too ready-made for the telling, but it's well worth a listen.
Nicolas Rapold, New York Times
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