A Band Called Death

Detroit, the early seventies. Three brothers form a band. Everyone in the neighbourhood plays soul, but after seeing a concert David Hackney decides to play loud, fast and hard. He names the band Death. A record company is interested and sets one condition: change the name. David refuses. The deal collapses. The band breaks up, the records stay in an attic and the brothers take other work. David dies years later. Thirty years on those recordings are found and the band starts being listened to for the first time. Mark Christopher Covino directs with Jeff Howlett. Bobby and Dannis Hackney, their families and musicians including Henry Rollins speak in it. It is an American production. The band was playing this music in the early seventies, before the word punk was in use. The matter it treats is holding to a name; a career lost over one word is at the centre. The documentary describes how a Black band playing this music was received at the time. The recordings resurfaced through the internet and record collectors. The film puts the family story ahead of the music story and the relationship of the three brothers is central. The narrative comes close to idealising David. The documentary shows the band playing live later and their sons performing the same songs. The ending closes on a recognition that came late. Its limit is distance; the narrative is celebratory, the critical view slight, and the discussion of the music shallow. Who it is for: viewers who like music documentaries and stories of forgotten bands. Who it is not for: it is partisan, shallow, and the ending emotional.