A fitting tribute to the TV channel that burned so briefly, but so brightly!
If we really had to make one criticism of ‘P-Rock: The Doc’, it would be that it has somewhat niche appeal. If you weren’t into UK punk around late 2002/early 2003, then names like 4Ft Fingers, Sonic Boom Six, and Whitmore probably won’t mean much to you, and hence this documentary won’t resonate as much as it could have. You should still watch it anyway, though; mainly because it’s a great David-vs-Goliath story (in true punk tradition!), and also because there’s plenty of great music within.
One word: love. Much of the documentary feels like a love letter to the scene that spawned it; be it the fans’ enthusiasm, the bands reminiscing about touring and promoting their music in a pre-YouTube world, or the founders of P-Rock itself talking about their formative punk experiences or the numerous obstacles they willingly overcame to get (and keep) the channel on air. The latter freely admit that they were winging it pretty much throughout the channel’s all-too-brief existence; we won’t spoil it for you by going into details, but suffice to say that they must have been blessed with balls of steel and the patience of saints to make it all happen.
Much of the documentary is made up of interviews, but there’s also some entertaining cut-and-paste style animation (again, in true punk tradition!), set to a soundtrack of various bands that found a home on P-Rock back in the day. It’s crazy to think that the channel was only on air for a few months, but after watching this documentary, you’ll be amazed that it ever came into being in the first place – so heavily were the odds stacked against it.
The DVD comes with some compelling extras, including a ‘behind the scenes’ interview with producer and director Alex Shipman, who goes into detail about the challenges of both making the documentary and taking it out on tour around the UK. Throw in some amusing documentary outtakes and various P-Rock era bands discussing how they originally formed – and their favourite videos – and you have at least a good two and a half hours of quality viewing!
The documentary is dedicated to P-Rock co-founder (and Moon Ska Europe head honcho) Lol Pryor, who sadly passed away in 2022. He was no doubt proud of what he, Mark and Russell achieved with P-Rock, and he’d no doubt be humbled by the gratitude of the bands featured within this superb documentary. P-Rock made a difference, for sure, and ‘P-Rock: The Doc’ is a fitting tribute. Here’s to all involved!
‘P-Rock: The Doc’ is out now – order the DVD (and merch) HERE.
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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