The Last Pogo Jumps Again – Movie Review Canadian Music Week 2013

Using the 1978 film The Last Pogo as a jumping-off point,  this documentary chronicles who’s playing where, who’s promoting whom, who just landed a record deal and who’s breaking all the rules as band after band jockey’s for street cred during the heydays of the counter culture movement. The Viletones, The Diodes, The Buzzcocks (England), Teenage Head, The UGLY, D.O.A. (Vancouver), The Mods, The Troggs (England), The Wads, The Biffs and Rough Tradewere just a few of the bands that gave rise to a new musical wave.  Connecting this convoluted narrative is the stylized use of animated maps, fonts and colour comics by Rick Trembles (think Lee’s Palace exteriors come to life) which gives the perfect geographical representation of the key venues such as The Colonial, The New Yorker, Beverly Tavern, The Horseshoe and many many more.

Not to be out done by the boys, the girl power punk movement was channelled in the form of bands like The B-Girls, The Androids, True Confessions, The Concords and The Curse who faced their own hurdles in this violent alpha male dominated sub culture. But the musical times they were a chang’n. Without an established Canadian music business to take care of this alternative scene and nurture their visions, the majority of bands simply petered out as some band members relented by quietly slipping into legitimate career paths. This transition was not kind to all.

Verdict: 4.5 / 5   In the end, the Toronto music landscape of the late 70’s was forever changed with the infusion of the punk / alternative movement. These pioneers who broke down the doors to announce an unequivocal expression of their art may have been ahead of their time. Six years in the making, The Last Pogo Jumps Again successfully explores the whys and wherefores of what was arguably one of the most exciting but misunderstood musical movements in Toronto’s history.