A few minutes on the Minutemen

I’ll fess up. I never got into the Minutemen when they were playing clubs and making records. And I’ll fess up. I never caught up with during the fIREHOSE years, and the subsequent years. It’s not that I even gave their music a good listen during all this time. But I noticed that their documentary We Jam Econo was on Sundance, IFC, one of those indie movie cable networks. I tivo’d it so I don’t really remember. But that’s besides the point. I watched the film and it was really mind-opening. I have always lumped the Minutemen in with the Southern California ‘80s punk scene. Black Flag, Descendents, and the whole SST scene. But I was surprised their sound, which is something like a cross of Wire post-punk with something much more American and earthy (they were Creedence fans). There was something arty yet primitive, skilled yet amateur about them. I got why they attracted such a loyal following and became such a mythic cult band. There was a great dynamic between D. Boon, Mike Watt and George Hurley both on stage and off. Not that I’m rushing out to buy Double Nickels on a Dime, 3-Way Tie (for Last) of What Makes A Man Start Fire? But it did spur me to jump belatedly on their bandwagon and sing (okay, type) their praises. Check them out.