Rebel Scum: The Movie – Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n Roll

This won’t be up everyone’s alley, and the trailer is definitely NSFW, and as director Video Rahim himself said it’s a “celluloid trainwreck – not for the faint of heart”. Rebel Scum is a documentary that chronicles two years in the life of Knoxville “psycho white trash punk band” (I always have to laugh at that) The Dirty Works, primarily frontman Christopher Scum.

The trailer (and the movie, I’m sure) is rather outrageous in a Roger Corman/Russ Meyer kinda way, but that’s not a bad thing, especially given the subject. It’s disturbing, but it’s supposed to be; an acquaintance who has seen the finished film has said it’s brilliant and a masterpiece, but difficult to watch – it’s supposed to be that too. The story behind the band, and especially Scum, is not a pretty one; Chris has had a difficult life and admittedly (very much so) has some very real, very serious problems, and much of it illustrated in the film.

All that makes for what looks to be a disturbing but infinitely interesting movie. With a nod (again) to the kitschy outrageousness of Corman and Meyer, I just hope the drama doesn’t overshadow the music too much, because when it comes down to it, The Dirty Works are just plain good, stripped down, balls out punk rock. Scum grew up in the church of Henry Rollins and Bon Scott, among many many more of the best of punk rock and classic rock, and take it from me ’cause I’ve been there – The Dirty Works put on a fine, fun rock & roll show.

There’ve been some haters over at YouTube since Rahim put the trailer up crying “satan worshipers” (um, yeah, they’re not) and all kinds of other BS. Chris has been battling for years on MySpace and elsewhere over The Dirty Works’ use of the Confederate flag in various logos; in fact, at one time The Dirty Works’ MySpace profile was deleted because of it, but later reinstated – people with no sense of humor don’t get the joke. The flag’s there for shock value, because it’s outrageous and in your face, and because it’s ugly, just like the premise of a “psycho white trash rock band” is ugly and in your face. Just like the shot in the movie trailer of the white supremacists, it’s there to point at and ridicule the sheer lunacy of it all. (I can assure you the Dirty Works don’t support the white supremacy movement; in case you didn’t notice, their drummer’s a black guy.)

The band is actually a threesome now – Scum, drummer B. Riot, and guitarist Steven Crime, with Scum handling bass duties in the wake of former bassist Shaggy’s departure. That part may change in the future – Chris is a great bass player with many impressive influences behind him, but by far, Christopher Scum is a masterful punk band frontman. Steven Crime’s got some great pure rock ‘n roll guitar chops, and New Orleans native B. Riot is actually an accomplished student of several instruments and grew up in a jazz background with a musician father, and the stories he can tell of legends that were just hanging around their house and stuff can just blow your mind. He’s also an ace drummer; I’m sorry my father, who was also a drummer, is no longer around. Yeah, I would have taken my Dad to a Dirty Works show, punk rock and all. That’s how good of a rock band they are, just flat out plain old rock ‘n roll with no pretty stuff.

In essence, musically there’s a whole lot more to The Dirty Works than one might assume on the surface. If you can get them in your living room after a show with a couple of acoustic guitars, you’re in for a big treat.

And while I don’t want to tarnish the band’s “most dangerous rock ‘n roll band on the f***ing planet” reputation, everybody else has so I’ll just say it – The Dirty Works are good guys. As a commenter on YouTube said similarly, “the nicest f***ing band in Knoxville” and “genuinely good people”, and it’s true. Chris Scum is literally like family to me – he and my betrothed go back a long way – Steve’s a good guy, and B. Riot is just wonderful and an insanely interesting conversationalist. I love these guys. They’re wild & crazy, yep, and they’re also my friends and I love ‘em.

AND THEY’RE A GREAT PUNK ROCK BAND. Kinda like the way punk rock used to be – real. So real it’s disturbing and ugly sometimes. So very real it almost hurts.  I know this movie will almost hurt me to watch on a personal level, but I can’t wait to see it.  If I didn’t know the band, I’d still be dying to see it.

With any luck, Rebel Scum will be released before the year is over. Also making appearances in the documentary are some legendary Knoxville folks such as musician and producer Carl Snow, musician and poet Rus Harper, musician and producer Vadim, Knoxville bands The Disobedients and The Cornbred Blues Band, Atlanta band Dropsonic, and Asheville-based Monsters of Japan. The movie was filmed mainly around Knoxville, but features some other Southeastern cities (Atlanta, etc.) and some filming was also done in Ohio, where Christopher Scum grew up before coming to Knoxville in his late teens.

The Biscuits & Liquor CD is available through CD Baby (it’s terrific), and Chris has got a solo CD coming out, 50 Acres of Pain, produced by Knoxville producer Carl Snow, that I think will feature a lot of his good acoustic stuff (get a taste of it here at Christopher Scum’s MySpace profile). They played Memphis with The Vacants back in May and (thanks to gasoline prices right now) I’m not sure when they’ll be down here again, but they have upcoming shows in August in Knoxville and Louisville.

If you’re interested in seeing Rebel Scum come to your town when it’s released, drop a comment on the Rebel Scum: The Movie MySpace profile or at YouTube and let VideoRahim know! I can’t wait to see it.

The Dirty Works on MySpace: HERE