Why don't I like this more than I do? On paper, the
Minutemen and their double LP "
Double Nickels on the Dime" combine everything I like: an 80s punk trio on
SST Records, clever, satirical, humorous, biting political commentary, a complete embrace of
DIY, genre-bending, sly references to
Pink Floyd, the
Beach Boys /
California Car Culture,
Husker Du, and numerous other influences. Even the book that I've referenced numerous times in this blog, "
Our Band Could Be Your Life", takes its title from their song "
History Lesson - Part II". This LP is on
nearly every "best of" list made, and is beloved by many artists that I love/respect (e.g.,
Sonic Youth,
Black Flag).
So I struggle to capture why this LP doesn't mean more to me. Part of it surely
D. Boon's guitar style: he's good (at the risk of damning with faint praise, they're all surprisingly good for a punk band), but the clean yet thin production and the rockabilly & funk influences leaves too much negative space for my taste. The LP was produced by
Ethan James, rather than SST's normal in house producer,
Spot, who made things muddy but heavy. Granted, I found out about this LP much later in life, but it still doesn't speak to me in the same way of, say,
Mission of Burma. Also, as a teenager I'm pretty sure I would not have found this LP heavy enough since my preferences were more in line with
Husker Du.
Having said all that, there are no bad songs on this LP and although songs like "
It's Expected I'm Gone" have too much of the aforementioned negative space, I can't call them bad. And some of the songs are quite good, with my favorite being the precious "History Lesson - Part II", whose autobiographical lyrics capture the friendship between D. Boon and
Mike Watt as the core element of the band, a band that provided a path out of an otherwise
dead-end, blue collar life:
our band could be your life
real names'd be proof
me and mike watt played for years
punk rock changed our lives
we learned punk rock in hollywood
drove up from pedro
we were fucking corndogs
we'd go drink and pogo
mr. narrator
this is bob dylan to me
my story could be his songs
i'm his soldier child
our band is scientist rock
but i was e. bloom and richard hell,
joe strummer, and john doe
me and mike watt, playing guitar
This song is made even more poignant because D. Boon died in an automobile accident in 1985, effectively ending the band (though drummer
George Hurley and Mike Watt would continue for a while as
Firehose) and leaving this song as the band's eulogy.
Another positive thing for the band is, that unlike many of their punk contemporaries, they were respectful and knowledgeable of their influences. In addition to the name checks provided in the lyrics above, they also did non-ironic covers of
CCR,
Van Halen, and
Steely Dan (even though the LP name is a
shot at Sammy Hagar).
Standout songs: "
History Lesson - Part II" (
live), "
Corona" (live), "
This Ain't No Picnic", "
Take 5, D.", "
Dr. Wu", "
The Big Foist"
Skip 'em songs: none.
Final score: I'm sticking with a 6/10, but you should realize that most people other than me would give this a 10/10.
Bonus links:
