The Minutemen Discography: Part 3: Double Nickels on the Dime

The more and more I dig into The Minutemen's discography, the more I realize just how prolific they were. In the time between 1983's What Makes a Man Start Fires and 1984's Double Nickels on the Dime, the band had released two EP's, one of which is perhaps my favorite Minutemen release full stop: Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat. Pile on top of that the fact that the groups third full length release is one of punk rocks most ambitious; with 43 tracks (46 with some versions, though the missing songs are covers) and a total runtime of about 80 minutes and the proof of the band's non-stop work ethic is impossible to deny.

However, whereas most overly long ambitious punk LP's come off as a bit dry in spots, The Minutemen, for the most part, put together an album that is entirely creative and enjoyable from start to finish, with only a couple tracks here and there sounding redundant or like filler. This comes from the fact that the album is broken up into four smaller albums technically, though there's no concept that I could glean, the breakage simply comes from who wrote the majority of the tracks for any set disc or side. Luckily, this leads to an album with great pacing, all things considered, with a near flawless balance of energetic and thoughtful, jazzy cuts.

Now, I'm not going to pretend like I know every track on here by heart, because I don't, but there are tracks on here that I look forward to in the track listing, such as "#1 Hit Song", "Don't Look Now", "The Big Foist", "Corona", and "The Glory of Man". There are more of course, but honestly it is hard to review this album in my typical track based breakdown, because while the runtime of the LP isn't anything too daunting, the shear number of tracks on offer here is; simply put, there are too many great moments here to fit concisely into a review.

But, to keep things to the point, this is the Minutemen's finest moment; maybe not my overall favorite, but undeniably a masterwork from a band that was at this point operating at a level never before seen in punk music. And just like my last review, this album does step even further outside the constraints of punk music at the time, opting for even more experimental forms of expression, furthering the jazzy interplay, jittery guitar leads, hypnotic drum lines and groove-heavy basslines.

Perhaps this album is just too large and full of little moments to really do justice in a written review that is less than a 10-page essay, but with that being said I'll leave it at this: listen to this album. Whether you're a fan of punk or just of experimental rock, this album will have some thing for you.

9.3/10