Beijing Punk

It’s been a long time since punk music mattered in America. Like rap, it’s been commercialized, homogenized and packaged to sell to white kids in suburban malls. So it’s a relief to see the sound – and the stand – of honest punk music is alive and well in, of all places, Beijing, China. Director Shaun M. Jefford didn’t know he’d find it when the film started. He made the mistake of first going to the malls and the punk clothing stores to ask the people who wore the fashion what they thought of the music, but the blank stares he got in response told him he was heading in the wrong direction. That’s when he stumbled on a nightclub called D-22 that serves as ground zero for the real punk music movement and the film takes off. If you like this kind of music, watch it with a pad and paper handy so you can write down the names of bands and hunt for them online. Chances are they won’t get visas to play at a club near you in the near future.