by Erin Free
Worth: $19.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Peter “Blackie” Black, Ray Ahn, Keish De Silva, Dave Faulkner, Ross Knight
Intro:
...so entertaining, affecting and well-structured that a love of The Hard-Ons is only incidental to one’s enjoyment of the film...
They’re certainly not as well-known as Cold Chisel or INXS, but if ever a local band deserved the music documentary treatment, it’s punk rock warriors The Hard-Ons, and they’re beautifully served by the utterly absorbing and appropriately titled The Most Australian Band Ever!, which screened in cinemas earlier this year, and is now headed for a very impressive deluxe Blu-ray release.
The Hard-Ons get the perfect cinematic shepherd in gifted helmer Jonathan J. Sequeira, whose 2017 doco Descent Into The Maelstrom – which tracked the furious ups and downs of 1970s Aussie punk figureheads Radio Birdman – is a cruelly under-celebrated masterclass in rock documentary filmmaking. Sequeira works his gritty, in-the-trenches, deeply investigative magic again with The Most Australian Band Ever!, which is so entertaining, affecting and well-structured that a love of The Hard-Ons is only incidental to one’s enjoyment of the film…and that is indeed the mark of a truly great rock doco.
Formed in the 1980s by childhood friends Peter “Blackie” Black and Ray Ahn, who were joined shortly after by fellow pal Keish De Silva, The Hard-Ons hamstrung themselves immediately with the decidedly risque, wholly non-radio-friendly name of the band, but it’s also perfectly fitting, and has truly stood the test of time. Young, cheeky, provocative and brutally funny, The Hard-Ons’ brand of melodic punk is deliriously in-your-face, while their lyrics (early song title sample: “Suck And Swallow”) have courted controversy while also somehow maintaining a curiously innocent youthful exuberance.
An absolute force of nature on stage, the early-era Hard-Ons were also a stand-out in another major way. With Blackie of Croation heritage, Ray of Korean background, and Keish’s family roots in Sri Lanka, The Hard-Ons didn’t look like other bands, and while this kind of cultural diversity is far more common today, back in the 1980s, it was truly rare…and the band copped a lot of ugly, reprehensible shit for it. This was the era of roaming neo-Nazi skinheads, and the racism experienced by The Hard-Ons often got violent and disturbingly physical. It’s near heartbreaking to witness the obvious mental scars that childhood and continuing racism have left on the affable but often angry Ray Ahn.
Though there is commentary in the film from outside figures (The Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner and Cosmic Psychos’ Ross Knight provide eloquent words, though the usual music journos are thankfully absent), director Jonathan J. Sequeira instead sticks tight with The Hard-Ons themselves, and it’s here that the filmmaker really hits his cinematic seam of gold. Blackie and Ray are so funny, honest, authentic and movingly vulnerable that you are drawn right into their story, which has now been rocking hard for over forty years. Formed in Sydney’s south-west, The Hard-Ons have always been a real working-class band, and it’s wonderfully fitting that Sequeira goes to those closest to the band (family members, childhood friends, crew members) for the story rather than to the standard pontificating music media types. Peppered with vintage archival footage and TV clips, it makes for a heady mix.
A tribute not just to those who burn and live for their art, The Most Australian Band Ever! is also a fascinating celebration of multicultural Australia…but one that never shies away from the racism and rage that tragically come with it. The Hard-Ons are emblematic of Sydney’s music scene, while also standing rebelliously just outside it. They do absolutely everything on their own terms and in their own insouciant way, and The Most Australian Band Ever! captures that livewire spirit and energy with remarkable power, sensitivity and force.
The Most Australian Band Ever! will be released in December in multiple Blu-ray packages. Click here for more information.
Click here for our review of Harder and Harder, the sequel to The Most Australian Band Ever!
