Hard-Ons - The Most Australian Band Ever! [Blu-ray]

When Ray Ahn's family migrates to Australia in 1974 he finds himself in an alien world. When he meets Peter "Blackie" Black (Croatian background) and Keish DeSilva (Sri Lankan) at school, things change and punk music becomes the salvation. Ray find his place as an outsider when the three of them become the Hard-Ons.

They embrace their outsider status, and the obnoxious name because it's 'offensive to the right people'. After playing backyard gigs, the high school band venture to the inner-city, for their first pub gig. Suddenly the Hard-Ons are pulling crowds in Sydney's thriving underground music scene.

With the fans came the neo-Nazis skinheads. It's brutal and ugly, but the Hard-Ons dealt with it the only way they know how - just getting on with it and playing their music. The band take their shirts off on stage, so 'the pricks in the back of the room can see your skin color'.

Skinheads aren't the only ones unhappy. The respectable music industry takes offense to Ray's art and their vulgar lyrics. The Hard-Ons' snotty humor belies their intelligence. But the Hard-Ons continue their rise by speaking directly to their audience, taking the music from the inner-city to all-ages gigs, suburban venues, and to Europe and the USA. The multicultural band shows the world that Australia isn't just blonde surfers.

Recording with Henry Rollins, festival gigs and huge record sales continue, but always on their own terms. There's no dressing up despite the pressure from the record company, they wear their flannelette shirts and Ugg boots before Nirvana make it cool. Can the Hard-Ons continue to rise without changing their image to a more palatable one?

When grunge hits, the pressure rises. The Hard-Ons are now the old guys, as a wave of new bands start doing what they pioneered.

No matter what, the Hard-Ons remain true to themselves. They've been beaten up and cancelled, but they'll never stop doing things their own way.

Highlights

• The funniest documentary ever made
• Before Amy and the Sniffers or The Chats, there was the Hard-Ons,
• Multiple award winner: Sound on Screen, LA Punk Film Festival and more
• For fans of Australian punk and rock, from the director of the Radio Birdman documentary

2024 / 105:54 minutes / English / STEREO / 1-Disc Blu-ray / Region Free