Salad Days

Director Scott Crawford's documentary offers an insider's look at the evolution of the punk music scene in Washington, D.C. from 1980-90, combining interviews of a wide variety of musicians with archival footage. Some of the more famous faces popping up here are Henry Rollins (who worked at a D.C. Häagen-Dazs between shows for State of Alert), Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and a characteristically happy-go-lucky Dave Grohl, who is also seen with bleached-out hair in a clip from a 1989 European show with his early group Scream. Touching on infamous venues (including DC Space and 9:30 Club) and the political bent of activist groups like Positive Force, Salad Days covers topics including musical influences, drugs and alcohol, infighting, violence (and aggressive slamdancing), women in the scene, selling out (or not), and the shift from bitching about Reagan to writing about feelings that would come with the emergence of ‘90s alternative music. Much homage is paid to the indie label Dischord Records and co-founder “straight edge” Ian MacKaye—a member of Teen Idles, Minor Threat, and Fugazi—who apparently still gets prank calls from teens teasing him about abstinence. Bonus features include extended interviews with and live performances by Government Issue, Gray Matter, Marginal Man, Beefeater, Soulside, and more. Serving up a fond remembrance, this is recommended. (J. Williams-Wood)