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Minutemen’s ‘Double Nickels On The Dime’ at 40

The Minutemen’s 43-track double album changed the punk landscape and sounds just as punchy today as it did in the ’80s.

By Nick Zanca

Double Nickels On The Dime
Minutemen
2021
Alternative Rock, Hardcore, Punk
2 x Vinyl, Album, Reissue
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For every artistic medium that emerged in the 20th century, there would come a magnum opus that would break its boundaries, blur genre lines, and push the proverbial envelope: the modernist novel found its densest doorstopper in Ulysses, while 2001: A Space Odyssey set new standards for science fiction film. When it came to the sonic subversion of hardcore punk, though, one could look no further than Minutemen’s playful and pioneering Double Nickels on the Dime, released 40 years ago this summer on the Long Beach label SST.

In a whopping 43 tracks, it does precisely what other double albums — say The White Album or Tusk — should do: make radical choices that defy the shoulders it stands on, pull impressionist inspiration from disparate sources, and commit to the spirit of experimentation at the expense of perfectionism.

Compared to frequent tour-mates such as Black Flag and Meat Puppets, the Minutemen provided a refreshing alternative to the artful aggression of their Californian compatriots. Hailing from San Pedro, they had the kind of chemistry, sharing a language that only exists between bandmates that grew up together: the late D. Boon’s guitar playing was treble-heavy, abrasive, and often off-the-cuff — an ideal counterpoint to George Hurley’s powerhouse percussion — while bassist Mike Watt usually dodged the low-end in favor of busier, more melodic lines.

The group’s lyrics often relied on inside jokes and surrealist turns of phrase, touching on subjects that ranged from leaking showers to linguistics, while their flash-in-a-pan compositions stretched their singular style to jazzy and jumbled new heights. Hardcore was less a sound than a situation under their influence — a gas-guzzling vehicle for unabashed expression rather than a means to an end. The working-class trio was driven by a maxim of what they called “jamming econo.” This meant sleeping in the van while on tour, otherwise holding onto their day jobs, and booking studio time with limited means.

The recording of their Double Nickels was no exception. They tracked it in six days and mixed in one night by Ethan James at the former Blue Cheer keyboardist’s studio in Venice for just $1,100. By the time they entered Radio Tokyo in late 1983, the Minutemen were already a well-oiled musical machine with two LPs and five EPs under their belt in just three years, and they had already cut enough tracks to make up what could have been their third. They chose to double that material after hearing their label mate Hüsker Dü’s new material, which would become their double album Zen Arcade. In just two weeks, they churned out over twenty more tunes to track for a second studio date in the spring, sequencing the album’s songs by drawing straws.

What Makes A Man Start Fires?
Minutemen
Punk
Vinyl, Album, Reissue
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In an homage to Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma, each of the three members received a side of their own — “Side D.,” “Side Mike,” and “Side George” — saving all the leftovers for the final “Side Chaff.” The album title was a jab at Sammy Hagar’s single “I Can’t Drive 55” released the same year, which protested the provisional speed limit of 55 miles per hour.

“To us, the big rebellion thing was writing your own fuckin’ songs and trying to come up with your own story, your own picture, your own book, whatever,” Watt explained in a conversation with writer Michael Fournier, who wrote the 33 ⅓ book about the album. “So he can’t drive 55, because that was the national speed limit? Okay, we’ll drive 55, but we’ll make crazy music.” 

Indeed, the sound and subject matter surrounding the record epitomize controlled chaos at its most accessible, interweaving several narratives into its sonic fabric. The polka-tinged “Corona,” later immortalized as the theme song to MTV’s Jackass, is a protest song reflecting on poverty informed by a trip the band took to Mexico. “This Ain’t No Picnic” saw D. Boon venting his frustrations on the prejudice of the working class, detailing an incident where a boss at his auto parts job refused to let him listen to a local jazz and soul radio station based on his racism. 

Watt began his side with “Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing,” which, despite its criticism of the way pop singers write about politics, was allegedly sent to the King of Pop’s management for his consideration. By the same token, “History Lesson (Part II)” also lives up to its title: it not only serves as the origin story of the Minutemen but waxes poetic on their place in the broader punk scene that they sometimes struggled to fit into. Those rinse-and-repeat highlights are merely the tip of the iceberg, sandwiched between new spins on Steely Dan (“Dr. Wu”) and Creedence Clearwater Revival (“Don’t Look Now”), flamenco-esque solo guitar instrumentals (“Cohesion”), and cartoonish drum-circle banter (“You Need The Glory”). 

For all the scattershot sonic ground covered over eighty-one minutes and its earnest attempt to cultivate more commercial appeal, the band’s no-frills attitude and economic ethic remain consistent, unrelenting, and arguably impossible to imitate. Be that as it may, it hasn’t stopped bands that followed in their tire tracks from paying homage to the Minutemen in the decades since D. Boon’s untimely death in a 1985 car accident led to their disbandment. In 1991, the Red Hot Chili Peppers dedicated their Blood Sugar Sex Magik to Watt, and the next year, Long Beach compatriots Sublime sampled the frontman by stating, “Punk rock changed our lives” on 40 Oz. to Freedom. 

The record has also influenced thousands of musicians who took vastly different paths. “The overarching themes that run through the album, the egalitarian nature of the song writing, the jam econo principle, the way every member brought something to the table, and the duality of high-brow concepts with low-brow presentation all played a formative role in my approach as a musician,” said Brian Cook of Russian Circles earlier this year.

Ultimately, the staying power of Double Nickels and its continued influence is its boundlessness. “It was probably the best record I ever played on,” Watt would proclaim of the record in the 2005 documentary We Jam Econo: The Story Of The Minutemen. “It came together totally by accident because of this process we were engaged in. We tried to push our limits, push ourselves, and push the scene.” Forty years on from selling out its original 10,000-copy run, it’s safe to say they succeeded. 

Nick Zanca is a record producer, composer, and writer currently based in Queens, New York. He is known for his work in electronic music as Mister Lies, has collaborated with artists such as Wendy Eisenberg and Lucy Liyou, and was most recently an editor at Reverb.

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