A Band Called Death

2013 • 96 minutes
4.6
43 reviews
94%
Tomatometer
Eligible
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About this movie

Punk before punk existed, three teenage brothers in the early '70s formed a band in their spare bedroom, began playing a few local gigs and even pressed a single in the hopes of getting signed. But this was the era of Motown and emerging disco. Record companies found Death's music- and band name-too intimidating, and the group were never given a fair shot, disbanding before they even completed one album. Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family love story, A Band Called Death chronicles the incredible fairy-tale journey of what happened almost three decades later, when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of the attic and found an audience several generations younger. Playing music impossibly ahead of its time, Death is now being credited as the first black punk band (hell...the first punk band!), and are finally receiving their long overdue recognition as true rock pioneers.

Ratings and reviews

4.6
43 reviews
Gwendolyn Harper
July 30, 2018
Understated but very passionate documentary about the band Death, a proto-punk three piece out of Detroit MI in the very early 70s. Excellent sound quality and very engaging. If you care at all about music, people, or family, you'll want to take an hour and a half to check this out!
Mark Benson
July 24, 2019
Best story I've ever heard of a legendary album being discovered decades later. Quentasential punk music before punk was punk.
Richard Davis
November 10, 2015
We gone work it out.