MC5 – Kick Out The Jams (Concert)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Film: C+

 

 

Considered the first heard rock band ever, The MC5 was originally the house band for a radical political group called The White Panthers, not a hate group but one that intended to be as subversive and disruptive as they could.  While this caught the attention of the FBI and they went into unexpected directions (arguably superceded by The Weather Underground in intent), The MC5 went on to be much more important and influential.  Kick Out The Jams captures the band in their early prime.

 

Directed by Sinclair & Cary Loren and running an intense 35 minutes, this presentation from Creem Magazine includes the following tracks:

 

1)     Looking At You

2)     Ramblin’ Rose

3)     Kick Out The Jams

4)     Black To Comm

5)     I Want You Right Now

6)     Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa)

7)     The Pledge Song

8)     Come Together

9)     Starship

10)  Motor City Is Burning

11)  Shakin’ Street

 

The music never lets up and Coming out of Detroit’s Lincoln Park in the late 1960s, the band had something to say and they would go on until only 1972, but they lefty behind permanent ramifications for politics in music and even stronger standards for the Rock genre from Led Zeppelin to The Rolling Stones.  Later, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal would be huge genres on their own, thanks to the groundbreaking and often overlooked work of the band.  Also significant, their attitude would resonate in the rise of Punk and in all this, except for the sound quality and dated look of the band, The MC5’s music holds up very well.  Post-Rock and later generation Punk bands in particular need to see this film, while Hard Rock and Heavy Metal fans and bands really should look into the band if they already have not.

 

The full frame 1.33 x 1 image varies in fidelity throughout as the film footage comes from various and usually 16mm sources, plus there are the Psychedelic manipulations of some of the footage.  In all this, this is a bit softer than expected.  The sound is here in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with barely any surrounds and a 5.1 mix that adds bass and spreads the sound around.  Perhaps this is the condition of the masters for the concert work, but the original studio recordings should sound better than this, even if they have the sonic limits The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) album always tends to exhibit.  The only extras are an interview with MC5 member John Sinclair on 11/19/03 and a text-rich color foldout inside the DVD case.  Catch this latest winning installment in the Creem DVD series as soon as you can.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo