OG BELFAST noisemakers The Outcasts now have their very own documentary (named for an old bootleg release), which premieres at The Strand in Belfast tonight.
The punks once known as "Terri Hooley's little darlings" have come a long way from their early days as one of the original Good Vibrations bands, whose early single Self Conscious Over You was surely one of the finest moments released by Mr Hooley's infamous label.
Although The Outcasts dissolved in 1984 after a couple of LPs and a clutch of singles (not to mention the tragic death of drummer Colin Cowan in May1982), surviving Cowan brothers Greg (vocals, bass) and Martin (guitar, vocals) reformed the band in 2010 with their original second drummer Raymond Falls and fan turned guitarist Petesy Burns.
From film-makers Kate and Paul McCarroll, Outcasts by Choice captures the band during a recent extensive European tour last year, which found the Belfast punks playing for 'locusts' – as their original fanbase were Christened because of their swarm-like destructive tendencies – old and new.
It also serves as a nicely constructed primer on the The Outcasts' history to date and the cross-community nature of the original Belfast punk scene, featuring interviews with band members, fans and the inescapable Hooley intercut with plenty of great archive footage – plus clips of The Outcasts as depicted in the recent Good Vibrations film, just for good measure.
Worth seeing on the big screen.
:: Tickets £6 from Belfastfilmfestival.org
