As Minor Threat’s Stumped plays, the opening credits of Punk the Capital: Building A Sound Movement shows a series of images of the American capital in the late ’70s as a way of setting the time and place of this documentary, which situates DC punk within the larger narratives of rock n’ roll, working as a powerful multi-layered story for both fans and non-fans of punk rock and explores the incredible challenges that this subculture faced when it took root in the Nation’s Capital in the late 1970s.

While there have been quite a few punk rock docs over the years, from Another State of Mind to The Decline of Western Civilization to American Hardcore to Turn It Around, et al, it’s surprising that it took this long for a film to focus on the Washington, DC scene. Not for nothing, but Minor Threat and Fugazi frontman Ian Mackaye and his trademark beanie have appeared in almost every punk rock film made in the last decade.

This film, from James June Schneider (co-director, editor), Paul Bishow (co-director), and Sam Lavine (associate producer, co-editor), begins with what many to be the genesis of DC and its particular strain of punk – hardcore – in the seminal band Bad Brains. However, the directors quickly state that this isn’t the whole story and rewind back to present bands like the Slickee Boys, who laid the groundwork for what would become an iconic scene. By presenting the bands who came before the Bad Brains and the mile-a-minute early Dischord bands which followed in their wake, Punk the Capital offers up a well-rounded look at D.C. and whence came this music.

Thanks to a slew of Super-8 footage and photos from the archives of many of the ‘zine writers and musicians, there’s very much a sense of being present that doesn’t exist in many documentaries of this ilk. Here, the viewer’s getting their eyes on things which haven’t been included in every other film, making this story – which has been told again and again in books and magazine articles over the last 40 years – feel fresh. Add in Bad Brains’ H.R. offering up clear and lucid commentary, a deep-dive into the influence of early clubs and radio shows, and Punk the Capital manages to exceed all expectations.

Punk the Capital releases as part of Record Store Day in the UK on Saturday, July 17th, on DVD and Blu-ray.