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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 19 June 2009 05:43

American Harmony is the Pumping Iron of barbershop quartet singing.

I love documentaries which allow you to drop in on a subculture for a few hours. However bizarre bodybuilding or spelling bees or salsa dancing may seem to you, they are terribly important to someone, and a good documentary can take you into their world.

American Harmony is the Pumping Iron of barbershop quartet singing. That's when four guys blend their voices as one, in the sweet and expressive style you've almost certainly heard, whether in The Music Man ("Lida Rose"), on The Simpsons (Homer founds the "Be Sharps" quartet in season five, with Apu, Barney and Principal Skinner), or any number of gospel quartets (The Mills Brothers got their start singing in their father's barbershop). It's addictive to listen to (no pesky instruments means just intonation is the norm, rather than the compromise of the tempered scale typical of keyboards) and apparently even more addictive to perform: Tens of thousands of singers devote large chunks of their spare time to rehearsing and competing in barbershop singing, hoping to advance through the regional levels of competition with the goal of reaching, and perhaps winning, the annual International Convention.

American Harmony is constructed around competition footage from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 International Conventions, with additional interview footage providing context and that behind-the-music feel without which no music documentary is really complete.

Unfortunately for tension-creation purposes, there's not much dirty laundry to air in the barbershop world, or if there is director Aengus James hasn't found it. Instead, you get a steady succession of some of the nicest guys you've probably ever met in your life, and they're so squeaky clean that you have to assume that their worst sin might be asking for more hot fudge on their ice cream sundae. There's a big range of ages involved but they're all white, and if anyone is not heterosexual they keep it carefully under wraps. Neither issue is addressed by the filmmakers. (I do know from internet research that the Barbershop Harmony Society was originally a white-only organization, and perhaps that heritage lives on today.)

All the quartets featured sound good, and they look great as well; the stage acts may be corny (matching suits are the most common choice of outfit, although the film includes quartets dressed as everything from cartoon characters to mobsters), but they're all carefully worked out. Props are allowed, and you will see everything from Muppets to electric drills. Say what you will, these guys can really perform, and they all want to win.

Four quartets are featured, each corresponding to a different niche within the sporting metaphors which dominate the competition: OC Times (the heartthrobs), Max Q (the all-stars), Vocal Spectrum (the rookies) and Reveille (the old guys). It's scored like the Olympics, only the scores run into the thousands of points (the details of judging are not explored). Who will take home the gold medal? You'll have to see American Harmony to learn the answer, but it's well worth your while, and you'll hear some great singing along the way. | Sarah Boslaugh