“I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and fuck my head
Hang out with the living dead”
- Straight Edge, Minor Threat (1980)

These lyrics started what is now known as the straight edge movement. It all began with Ian MacKaye’s then-band Minor Threat protesting age requirements at punk venues. In the 1980s, punk in Washington, DC was by kids, for kids. And kids took to marking their hands with X’s to signify that they weren’t there for alcohol, they were there for the music. Salad Days: A Decard of Punk in Washington, DC (1980-1990), from director Scott Crawford, follows the evolution of punk in this decade through the eyes of a young fan, grown-up.

In the film, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) describes young punkers of the time as almost “pre-sexual.” And indeed, the evolution of the scene is similar to the path of an angsty teen finding his place in the world. Moving chronologically, Salad Days starts with the originals. Ian MacKaye was at the heart of it all with Teen Idle (which evolved into Minor Threat and from there, Embrace, Egg Hunt, Fugazi and the Evens) and operates as a sort of Greek Chorus, defining the ups, downs, roadblocks and incarnations of the era.

Ultimately, Salad Days is the age-old story of a scene that sold out. What started as a close knit community that acted as a shelter for misfits with a spirited DIY mentality quickly morphed into a nasty, violent, drug ridden mosh pit for the masses. The film illustrates what happens when outsiders create something to be co-opted by public appeal.

In keeping with the DIY ideal of punk, the director was a part of the scene himself as a 12-year-old just starting a fan-zine. Because of this, the film has an insider feel. Testimonials come from people who were there and drive the narrative, with very little effort to craft an outside perspective. When Salad Days dips into politics, with commentary on female presence in punk, it breaches a more globally accessible arena, but otherwise it tends to feel like a home video.

But within those confines, it does a fantastic job. As a viewer, one feels the growing pains of the punk movement in DC. How they revolutionized record production with Dischord, how the poor made a shelter for themselves in city of privilege, how they rocked really, really hard. And the story is nice. In the end, Salad Days tells the story of a group of kids getting together and inadvertently changing history through a little kicking and screaming.