Wednesday 3 June 2015

50 years of tunes - 1984 - Minutemen "Double Nickels on the Dime"

Kind of a hardcore Ummagumma, a double album with each band member getting a side to sequence and the fourth side being the left over "chaff". I hadn't even heard of the band when I saw them support Shellac at the Scala in Kings Cross. This was long after guitarist and singer D. Boon had tragically passed away and saw Mike Watt & George Hurley play as a two piece with just bass and drums. It was a full frontal assault on my senses, I obviously knew none of the songs but could sense this was something special.

Double Nickels was the first Minutemen album I bought and despite the fact it's an epic featuring over 40 tunes I fell for it straight away. The album is packed full of ideas, the song titles give you some idea of the band's sense of humour, and with most of songs being under 2 minutes the album simply flies past.

1984 - Minutemen "Double Nickels on the Dime"

Released: July 1984
Label: SST
Producer: Ethan James

Side D:
1. "Anxious Mo-Fo" (D. Boon, Mike Watt) 1:19
2. "Theatre Is the Life of You" (Boon, Watt) 1:30
3. "Viet Nam" (Boon) 1:27
4. "Cohesion" (Boon) 1:55
5. "It's Expected I'm Gone" (Watt) 2:04
6. "#1 Hit Song" (Boon, George Hurley) 1:47
7. "Two Beads at the End" (Boon, Hurley) 1:52
8. "Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?" (Watt) 1:49
9. "Don't Look Now" (John Fogerty) 1:46
10. "Shit from an Old Notebook" (Boon, Watt) 1:35
11. "Nature Without Man" (Chuck Dukowski, Boon) 1:45
12. "One Reporter's Opinion" (Watt) 1:50

Side Mike:
1. "Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing" (Watt) 1:33
2. "Maybe Partying Will Help" (Boon, Watt) 1:56
3. "Toadies" (Watt) 1:38
4. "Retreat" (Watt) 2:01
5. "The Big Foist" (Watt) 1:29
6. "God Bows to Math" (Jack Brewer, Watt) 1:15
7. "Corona" (Boon) 2:24
8. "The Glory of Man" (Watt) 2:55
9. "Take 5, D." (Joe Baiza, John Rocknowski, Dirk Vandenberg, Watt) 1:40
10. "My Heart and the Real World" (Watt) 1:05
11. "History Lesson - Part II" (Watt) 2:10

Side George:
1. "You Need the Glory" (Hurley) 2:01
2. "The Roar of the Masses Could Be Farts" (Vandenberg, Watt) 1:20
3. "Mr. Robot's Holy Orders" (Hurley) 3:05
4. "West Germany" (Boon) 1:48
5. "The Politics of Time" (Watt) 1:10
6. "Themselves" (Boon) 1:17
7. "Please Don't Be Gentle With Me" (Jack Brewer, Watt) 0:46
8. "Nothing Indeed" (Hurley, Watt) 1:21
9. "No Exchange" (Hurley, Watt) 1:50
10. "There Ain't Shit on T.V. Tonight" (Hurley, Watt) 1:34
11. "This Ain't No Picnic" (Boon) 1:56
12. "Spillage" (Watt) 1:51

Side Chaff:
1. "Untitled Song for Latin America" (Boon) 2:03
2. "Jesus and Tequila" (Boon, Joe Carducci) 2:52
3. "June 16th" (Watt) 1:48
4. "Storm in My House" (Boon, Henry Rollins) 1:57
5. "Martin's Story" (Martin Tamburovich, Watt) 0:51
6. "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love" (Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Michael Anthony) 0:40
7. "Dr. Wu" (Donald Fagen, Walter Becker) 1:44
8. "Little Man With a Gun in His Hand" (Boon, Chuck Dukowski) 2:53
9. "The World According to Nouns" (Watt) 2:05
10. "Love Dance" (Boon) 2:00




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