The Minutemen Discography: Part 1: The Punchline

The Minutemen were a Punk/ Experimental Rock trio from San Pedro California. They formed in the late 70's and put out their first full length LP, The Punchline in 1981. The trio had preceded this album with a string of very well received EP's, such as the punchy and visceral Paranoid Time. And right from the start this trio proved to be a lot more than your standard three chord Hardcore punk band, with a lot of their sound relying on the interplay between jagged guitar leads and groove-based basslines that get a really prominent spot in the mix. Also, the band's approach to politics in their music was a lot more subtle and based on satire than outright preaching or posturing, which was certainly refreshing at the time and proves to be one of the many secret weapons that still make The Minutemen so great all these years later.

But what about this LP, The Punchline?  A quick perusal of the internet may give you the impression that this album is an 'okay' start for the group with a lot of reviews giving 3 out 5's and 6.5 out of 10's, but in my opinion, though slightly derivative of a group like Gang of Four, The Punchline is the most immediate and stripped back the group ever sounded and that is a huge plus considering that they went on to produce a 43 track opus in the form of Double Nickels on the Dime. To me, the straightforward, no frills approach that this album takes makes it a perfect starting point for any new listener of not only The Minutemen, but perhaps Hardcore punk in general. Even though I think this is definitely the closest the group ever got to sounding like a stereotypical Hardcore punk band. Still, this LP manages to be both sour and sweet in equal measure while also balancing the band's love for fast paced punk and the stylings of jazz and experimental music.

In terms of length this LP is true to the punk spirit, with 18 tracks that go by in exactly 15 minutes with songs that only ever dare to be longer than a minute and a half at their longest. Some songs here bleed into each other which can make the first couple of listens a little hard to pick apart, but in my opinion more than enough tracks stand on their own, such as the title track, "Search", "Tension", "History Lesson" and the fantastically melodic closer "Static". If I had one additional gripe, my first being the tendency for tracks to bleed into one another, would be that this album doesn't stand out as much when put into the larger context of the groups discography, and while that's not inherently a bad thing considering this is still a great album, the fact that this LP was immediately followed by What Makes a Man Start Fires and the aforementioned opus, makes this album certainly pale in comparison. Still, this LP gets my ringing endorsement, it certainly deserves more attention and respect.

8.1/10