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Anvil is probably the best band you’ve never heard of. In the early 1980s, they stormed the scene with innovative metal riffs and a dynamite live show. They’ve been an influence for some of the biggest bands in the business, but they’ve never made it all the way to the big game themselves. Or maybe they have. But they lost it somewhere along the way. Now, they’re middle aged, still struggling to make ends meet and desperately not giving up the dreams of rock stardom that they built when they were teenagers.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a brilliant documentary look at a band that suffers from extreme arrested development and the grand frustration of making it big without ever making it big. It’s a bit surreal. When Neil and I watched it together, he thought it was a fake documentary for the first half hour. Something like a real life Spinal Tap, playing to small audiences and blowing up at each other because the world won’t recognize every next big shot they have at stardom.

And now, there’s a trailer for your viewing pleasure:

This gives a great idea of what the doc is all about. Two Canadian musicians who are incredibly talented but have the same flaws most people chasing a dream have. They refuse to realize that they’ve missed their chance. That they’re too old. That their particular music style hasn’t launched fame in two decades. Yet they press on. It frustrates me, torments them even, but they press on because it’s what they know and, in a way, it makes them happy.

Anvil will be playing SXSW, and Anvil will also be rocking SXSW. Be on the lookout for a review forthcoming, but enjoy the trailer in the mean time. For more coverage of SXSW, check out our SXSW ’09 homepage.

What do you think?