#411: Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime

I didn't realize it at the time, not sure if the term had even been coined yet, but Double Nickels on the Dime was pure post-punk genius, an at points seamless (and at other points, not quite so seamless) blend of punk, funk, rock, jazz and uncategorizable weirdness in the best Gang of Four or Mission of Burma tradition... What stands out most on this record, though, isn't the innovative musical stylings so much as the musicianship: Mike Watt and George Hurley's mastery of bass and drums, respectively, are on display throughout the record, of course (best exemplified on "Viet Nam" and "Martin's Story"), while D. Boon, one hell of a guitarist, showed his chops on "Cohesion," "West Germany" and "Storm in My House." Even more impressive yet is the chemistry between these three guys: "It's Expected I'm Gone" and "Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth" showcase their songwriting chops, while the band's genesis is told poignantly in the lyrics of "History Lesson Part 2": We learned punk rock in Hollywood; Drove up from Pedro; We were fucking corn dogs; We'd go drink and pogo... The opening line of this song, incidentally, lent the title to Michael Azzerad's chronicle of 80s avant-rock, Our Band Could Be Your Life. Thematically, the Minutemen's working class sensibilities come through, along with their punk rock roots, on "Themselves" and "This Ain't No Picnic." Overall, this record is a portrait of a band at its creative zenith. Unfortunately, the Minutemen's career would come to an abrupt end the year after its release, with D. Boon's death in a car accident.

Some other thoughts:

#412, Massive Attack's Mezzanine: Lacking founding members Shara Nelson and Tricky, as well as the smoldering, soulful funk of earlier releases, Massive Attack were a band at best compromised when setting down tracks for Mezzanine. They redeemed themselves on this brilliant record with a dark and brooding sound tempered on occasion by the vocals of Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser (singing, notably, in mostly comprehensible English). Despite a somewhat lighter turn on "Exchange," Mezzanine's challenging approach cemented the band's place in the trip-hop canon.

#410, Wire's Pink Flag: Wire were short shrifted in their day, their brand of punk being somewhat more sophisticated than that of their contemporaries. History has been kinder to these guys than the record buying public of late 70s Britain, thankfully... Kids of my generation will recognize "Strange" as covered by REM, while kids of my high school class will recognize "Strange" as covered by my band The Young and the Useless...