Pitchfork

There have been Bad Brains reunions before-- tons of 'em-- but none as convincing as the one they've unleashed with the release of Build a Nation, out today. And though in video of recent shows HR seems bored of playing "Pay to Cum" and "The Big Takeover" (one CBGB show late last year apparently featured the addition of a lyric-garbling, face-hiding motorcycle helmet to the already bewitching HR stage presence), the new record ought to get not just fans but the band itself excited about Bad Brains again. Produced by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, the band's raw musicianship is in full effect: Bad Brains haven't played this fast since the ROIR tape.

Live footage of this band, pre-Youtube, was always something of a holy grail. Not for nothing did every single musician from that era lucky enough to see them play call them, as Dave Grohl allegedly did, the "greatest live band ever." They were also, and still are, one of the weirder bands ever, and if you look hard enough, there's plenty of video documenting this side of the Brains as well (for instance: HR's American Hardcore interview definitely is taking place right in the middle of a wedding, with bridesmaids and the like processing behind him-was he attending? Just hanging out? Things I wonder about...).

In the clip below, a 1980 pseudo-informative (though campily misinformed) documentary segment done by PM Magazine, scorching live footage collides with a satirically idiotic voiceover and some genuinely interesting interview footage. Note that "hardcore," as a genre tag, hasn't even been invented yet (instead, they call it, stacking other genres, "punk new wave rock and roll"). "Meet the Bad Brains: Not what you'd call the crowning achievement of modern culture, but definitely a part of it..."

One defining aspect of the band ever since they started has been a catholic interest in all types of music: jazz-fusion, reggae, punk, heavy metal and funk, and here, the Beatles' "Day Tripper", dubbed-out beyond all recognition. Also note that HR has dance moves way beyond the incendiary jerks and spasms for which he is famous.

Video:> Bad Brains - "Daytripper"

Bad Brains' melodic sense was unparalleled in hardcore, though later bands such as Articles of Faith nor 7 Seconds would at least recognize how much more there was to Bad Brains blueprint than brute aggression. Further proof is below, in which Kimya Dawson covers Bad Brains' "The Regulator" and effortlessly turns it into a sort of touching, vulnerable anti-anthem.