I've always wanted to like Minutemen more than I ever have done; it's one of those shockingly un-punk things to say, but I just don't get that much enjoyment from this band. There is one exception to this, which I'll come to later.
Rewind 10 years and I was reading the excellent Our Band Could Be Your Life on holiday in Colorado. I was already a fan of a lot of the bands it covered, but was learning about a few for the first time. The Minutemen were one such band. Their story was fascinating - childhood friends form band with a moral and ethical belief at the forefront and tour in a way that has become legendary. Then one tragically dies in a car crash and they cease to be. I was gutted when D. Boon died - I was just getting to know them (on paper) and he was taken away too soon.
Like with so many bands in that book, I decided to check them out afterwards. That summer I was in Damaged Records in Cardiff to buy what had become my Monthly Record From Damaged. I decided that was the day to check out Minutemen and asked the advice of an acquaintance who was also there hanging out (I've forgotten his name, but he was in a bunch of South Wales hardcore bands and quite pretentious). He recommended What Makes a Man Start Fires? and I went with it. They also had Double Nickels on the Dime, an album I knew to be their most well-known, but was steered away by that guy's advice, the fact that there was no way I could start with an album that has 40+ songs, and the fact it was a double, so more expensive.
I found the album very hard work on first listen, and that hasn't really changed in the ten years that have followed. Seven songs into Side A you get the first hint of any melody in the chorus of '99, but its pretty brief. The style is very stripped back, as you'd expect from a band that prided themselves on sparsity. The guitar playing is very distinctive and the bass quite central. The vocals are rarely sung with adds to the jangly feel. It's not an easy listen. or a relaxing one, but I guess that wasn't what they wanted. '99 is a highlight, along with Plight which has some interesting layered vocals and Polarity where they seem to be really thrashing at their instruments for its very short duration.
Roll on another three years and I decided to try out Double Nickels on the Dime, but struggled with that too. As I suspected, being 40+ songs long, it's not the easiest record to get into. I have it on cd, which is a shame, as I think breaking into the four distinct sides (D., Mike, George and Chaff) would probably help. Numerous attempts over the years haven't helped with that one either. I've not tried any more since. If anyone reading this has any top tips of where to try beyond these two albums, please let me know. Or perhaps I'm just a lost cause.
The one thing that makes me think that maybe I'm not is something that happened in 2012. At the Jeff Mangum All Tomorrow's Parties I was lucky to see Mike Watt and George Hurley perform "The Songs of the Minutemen", something I don't think they do too often. It was just the two of them on stage, late at night on the first day and on the "third" stage (Reds, I think it was called - it was the smallest, but had a good staggered layout so you could see from quite far back). They were excellent and I enjoyed every minute of the set, something I wasn't really expecting given the two albums I'd struggled so much with. I don't know what songs they were playing and didn't recognise any from the two albums I have (but can't say "knew") - but that might be because without the guitar they would sound dramatically different anyway. Jeff Mangum was stood next to me during the performance, but I couldn't bring myself to talk to him; he looked to be enjoying it also, so didn't need yet another scrawny guy in his 20's telling him how big a fan he was of Neutral Milk Hotel.
Afterwards, I tried again with my Minutemen records, but made no further progress into getting into them. Every now and again I try again, but with no luck. I suspect I'll be doing so every couple of years until I die. Maybe one day I'll get there.
Format: 12"
Tracks: 18
Cost: £9.50 new
Bought: Damaged Records
When: 12/07/08
Colour: Black
Etching: Side A: "Bones - the list... the list in the dream? (of echos)" Side B: "...and the guests came in through little funnels - dripping"
mp3s: no
