I don’t have a whole bunch of experience in the punk rock world, but someone recently informed me about Mike Watt, this band’s co-founder and bass player. I’m always interested in music recommendations, so I decided to look further into his music. Needless to say, I figured this would be a good chance to write about some punk rock. According to Wikipedia, the Minutemen played post-punk, post-hardcore, funk rock, and experimental rock; it almost sounds like some 1970s description of the band Gong sent forward 10 years in time. I might be, and probably am, quite a bit off from what I’m about to experience, but I’m looking forward to it either way. With that said, I’m going to jump on in.
“Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs” can definitely be a provocative title to Dylan fans, but that’s pretty punk rock right away. Oh wow, that bass guitar is absolutely awesome. It almost sounds like a swirly surf rock played 4 octaves lower than normal. Those drums have such a great feel to them. Oh wow, that guitar is going everywhere, it’s almost like a glitched out bird chirping.
“One Chapter In the Book” picks up where the previous track left off, though there’s definitely a little change up in what’s being played. I really dig the electric guitar in this one.
“Fake Contest” drops right into some slick drums followed by the guitar and bass. These songs are all so short, but they all feel like they flow together from one another pretty well so far. You could almost argue all these songs combined would form an experimental prog rock song. That feedback part is sweet. Wow, I really dig the guitar to this one.
Oh wow, that bass in “Beacon Sighted Through Fog” has almost a chaotic jazz vibe to it, but it repeats itself too closely to be jazz, if that makes sense.
“Mutiny In Jonestown” has a really nice shuffle feel to the drums. I really dig how prominently the bass is featured on the album.
“East Wind / Faith” gets a little bit more experimental in a certain sense with the instrumentation of the drums in this one, definitely not a traditional western kit by the sounds of it. There’s a nice tin-y, echo-y feeling to them. Oh wow, the more western drums come in with some bass and some guitar and the energy is insanely high. The vocals are really giving me a great punk feel to them, but they’re not exactly punk either.
Wow, the bass in “Pure Joy” starts right away with the guitar, and I’m stunned at how it never really stops. Honestly, the tone of the bass reminds me a bit of Jaco Pastorius’ version of “Donna Lee” of his self-titled album from 1976.
“99” starts up with such a great energy, and the vocals and guitar really feel like they’re making something beautiful out of this chaotic energy with the way they leave certain things out to hang. Oh wow, then the guitar absolutely whizzing around right now.
“The Anchor” starts out with some super fast-paced drums, with the bass adding notes here and there to box off the rhythm in a certain sense, and then the guitar comes in to swish things around a bit. Oh wow, this song has a nice, unexpected sort of bridge to it. There’s a pretty nice optimistic feeling to it. I really dig the guitar work in this one; there was a solo that felt like it was played with the soul of rock and roll. This song is the longest on the album by about 30 seconds, and it’s only 2:34 long.
I really dig the slow start “Sell or Be Sold” has to it. The vocals really aren’t ever excessive, and don’t necessarily try to take attention away from anything else. The combination of the bass and electric guitar is absolutely delicious.
“The Only Minority” starts up right where the previous track left off with some high octane drums and bass. I’m blown away by the bass playing. It’s like some sort of jazz rock fusion bass player got asked to play punk rock. Then the addition of the electric guitar doing something of a rock leaning punk rock style is super delicious.
Wow, “Split Red” is an absolute fusion of punk and jazz. The drums have a really nice swing to them in this one, while the bass plays chromatic lines and the electric guitar is playing something of a distorted storm. Really sweet.
“Colors” feels like something of a prog punk piece with the way the song builds and the deliberate looseness at times. Wow, the effects are super interesting. I can’t even tell what effects are used on the vocals, but they’re awesome. That bass guitar tone is super awesome in this one.
Oh wow, “Plight” feels like a total prog rock song to me. That bass lick is absolutely delicious. I love the tone of the drums on this one. The electric guitar almost makes the song crescendo until the vocals break through with some strange non-echo reverb feel to them.
“The Tin Roof” feels like a great little jam for the band in terms of energy. There’s familiar licks being played by the electric guitar, while the bass guitar keeps the song moving in unexpected ways.
“Life As a Rehearsal” has a really sweet feel to it. I really love the way the notes are played on the electric guitar lick. The drums have a great feel to them in this one. Wow, that electric guitar is absolutely sweet. The vocals have a great, almost dryness to them in the way they’re laid out in the track that gives a raw, authentic feeling to the song.
“This Road” has a really interesting feel to it. I don’t listen to much of The Who, but this one kind of reminds me of them a bit. The electric guitar really whizzes around and sort of has me trying to figure out what on earth is going on, and meanwhile the drums and bass really sell the whole thing home.
“Polarity” starts out with a great rock and roll guitar, almost like Chuck Berry meets punk rock in a certain way. The drums are ramping up speed and intensity, and the whole conglomeration of the instrumentation sort of starts to crescendo. The electric guitar and vocals sort of take turns contributing to the end of the song, and wow that was awesome.
I’m not exactly sure if punk purists would consider this punk rock – I don’t know a whole lot about the genre – but to me, this one is some sort of almost experimental prog post punk rock album. Definitely a great listen for those looking to get into that area of music. It could definitely be a great listen for music lovers looking for something new. I had a blast listening to it, and will definitely be checking out more of them and their associated works soon.
-A