The Minutemen Discography: Part 2: What Makes a Man Start Fires?

Released in 1983, What Makes a Man Start Fires is the second studio LP from The Minutemen. At this point in the band's career they had released a handful of EP's and only one studio release, but they were already proving themselves to be unlike any other punk band. Having been slotted under the 'hardcore'- punk label early on, this album, and pretty much every other release from the band going forward would prove that label to be sort of useless in describing what this band was doing. In my opinion, WMAMSF is proof that this band was more of a post-punk band in the long run, whereas the debut had 'hints' of Gang of Four who were pretty pivotal to the sound of post-punk; this album not only wholeheartedly embraces the jagged, oddly timed rock music that made Gang of Four so great, but they also incorporate jazzier, more free-form styles as well, such as on "East Wind/ Faith" which starts with a drum solo before bursting into its second half.

Also, this album contains very little in the way of more traditional hardcore-punk sounds; sure the songs are short, and yes they have political subject matter most of the time, but rarely are any of these tracks the typical three-chord bursts of aggression that say a band like Minor Threat would bring to the table. Instead, the band opts to slow things down, let the grooves sink in for a bit, and create an album that is just as irresistibly catchy and enthralling as their debut, even more so.

Tracks like "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs" and "Sell Or Be Sold" are so bare bones and raw, while tracks such as "Mutiny in Jonestown" or "Fake Contest" are more catchy and even upbeat musically, as is the case with the former track. Simply put, there's a lot of variety on offer here, even if the overall package still only clocks in at 28 minutes or so, it is easy to see just how much the band were improving even in such a short amount of time. There are only a couple moments here that pale in comparison or sound a bit familiar, but overall WMAMSF is easily my favorite Minutemen LP to sit down and listen to in one sitting.

9.0/10