Double Nickels on the Dime (1984) is one of those albums that makes you rethink your stance on music. Not change your taste per say, but it’s a mind-expanding and extremely impassioned declaration of authenticity in a time without much of it. Separate of the punks, separate of the new-wavers, separate of the hardcore kids, separate of the metal dudes, The Minutemen craft a genre-crossing masterwork that has this brazen assertiveness to not be like the rest. But at the same time, it’s so familiar, so comfortable, and so catchy. Specifying one moment in which this album sticks to a formula is like finding a needle in a hay stack… in a city made of hay. It’s asking the near impossible, but simultaneously, the peculiar nature of the whole situation makes for an astoundingly funny, almost cosmic joke. On Double Nickels, D. Boon, Mike Watt and George Hurley stab at this existential laugh by posing some sort of joke of their own, questioning the validity of space & time, but also stopping to ponder Michael Jackson or what might be on television tonight. It is a benignly fractured record that winds in and out of focus, but retains a depth that few artists at the time could ever hope to achieve. Stopping for abstract spoken word sections (“Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?”) and jazz-fusion breakdowns (“Shit From an Old Notebook”) while bouncing off punk rockism’s and surfer dude dumbfoundedness, the Minutemen create a truly tripped-out blend of Californicated-fuck-all funk, mixed with the intention to create a wholly unheard of sound. It is a testament to their rare and all too fated career, but it stands as a monumental feat of musicality and genius.
Listen to “Glory of Man” (Live, 1985)
Download “Double Nickels on the Dime”
