Double Nickels on the Dime

I don't much like punk, but wasn't mad at listening to this.

When I opened this up this morning I yelled "YES!"

Confession: since I wasn't really into punk at the time, I've only recently been catching up on the stuff that came out in the 80s while I was listening to New Wave and my old prog records. So, I've only had a copy of this record for a couple of years, and have come to really like it. It's great for driving around - just an all-around propulsive record, consistently good. My favorite track is "Jesus and Tequila," but the whole thing is great, 5/5

1001 Albums Vol. 0013: Double Nickels On The Dime
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Introduction: It's strange how you can go from listening to the shortest album you've heard so far to the longest album you're yet to hear. Thank God I'm not doing a track-by-track breakdown anymore. This album would have been the absolute bane of my existence if I were. Anyway, that aside, this album was released back in 1984 by a little-known band known as Minutemen. This album's genre is...punk rock....Now, despite the fact that the last punk rock album I generated, The Clash, got the first three, I've heard that THIS album is a masterpiece. This site doesn't seem to hold the same opinion, yet I've heard almost nothing but positivity regarding this album. Still, I'm not entirely sure what to expect. Punk rock is a genre that I can appreciate from a critic's standpoint, yet I don't feel much of anything for it casually. Nevertheless, I'll still go into this album with my hopes at a reasonable level. Now, this album is apparently so loved for its ability to blend genres and the topics it covers. It apparently covers the Vietnam War at some point before covering the exhaustion of working class lives at another. It sounds like pretty typical punk rock kind of stuff to talk about, yet it's all tied together through the theme of American life. I guess that some people almost interpret this album as the band taking a road trip through America. They point out the many flaws that America had and has all the while. It seems like a cool concept that I will probably be able to relate to. Now, the track listing may be a bit weird. To my knowledge, there are many versions of this album that exist. I am listening to the upload on Spotify, yet apparently the full version of the album is exclusively available on vinyl. I've looked at some other track listings on other sites as well and they're different from the Spotify version too. I don't know. I'm just going to listen to the Spotify version and leave it at that. Alright, now, with that out of the way, let's get into what will probably be the most exhausting album yet.
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Track 1: D.'s Car Jam / Anxious Mo-Fo Score: 8/10
Track 2: Theatre Is the Life of You Score: 8/10
Track 3: Viet Nam Score: 9/10
Track 4: Cohesion Score: 8/10
Track 5: It's Expected I'm Gone Score: 8/10
Track 6: #1 Hit Song Score: 8/10
Track 7: Two Beads at the End Score: 9/10
Track 8: Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth Score: 8/10
Track 9: Don't Look Now Score: 6/10
Track 10: Shit from an Old Notebook Score: 8/10
Track 11: Nature Without Man Score: 8/10
Track 12: One Reporters Opinion Score: 8/10
Track 13: Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing Score: 8/10
Track 14: Maybe Partying Will Help Score: 9/10
Track 15: Toadies Score: 7/10
Track 16: Retreat Score: 7/10
Track 17: The Big Foist Score: 7/10
Track 18: God Bows to Math Score: 7/10
Track 19: Corona Score: 9/10
Track 20: The Glory of Man Score: 10/10
Track 21: Take 5, D. Score: 6/10
Track 22: My Heart and the Real World Score: 8/10
Track 23: History Lesson Part 2 Score: 10/10
Track 24: You Need the Glory Score: 5/10
Track 25: The Roar of the Masses Could Be Farts Score: 8/10
Track 26: Mr. Robot's Holy Orders Score: 7/10
Track 27: West Germany Score: 9/10
Track 28: The Politics of Time Score: 7/10
Track 29: Themselves Score: 8/10
Track 30: Please Don't Be Gentle with Me Score: 7/10
Track 31: Nothing Indeed Score: 7/10
Track 32: No Exchange Score: 8/10
Track 33: There Ain't Shit on T.V. Tonight Score: 8/10
Track 34: This Ain't No Picnic Score: 9/10
Track 35: Spillage Score: 7/10
Track 36: Untitled Song for Latin America Score: 8/10
Track 37: Jesus and Tequila Score: 9/10
Track 38: June 16th Score: 8/10
Track 39: Storm in My House Score: 7/10
Track 40: Martin's Story Score: 7/10
Track 41: Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love Score: 7/10
Track 42: Doctor Wu Score: 7/10
Track 43: Little Man With a Gun in His Hand Score: 8/10
Track 44: The World According To Nouns Score: 9/10
Track 45: Love Dance Score: 8/10
Track 46: Three Car Jam Score: 3/10
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Conclusion: This was one colossal listen. Despite what I said in the intro, I did go out of my way to listen to the vinyl exclusive songs as well. They didn't add all that much runtime...they didn't really add that much at all. Expectedly, there was no absolute masterpiece of a song that was cut on re-releases and digital versions of the album. Little Man With a Gun was pretty good, yet pretty good is this album's average. Seriously, this album is so consistently good across forty-six different songs that it absolutely blows me away. The fact that the band was even able to come up with themes and melodies that sound so distinct and diverse while still feeling as if they contain a central theme is beyond me. Seriously, I do not know how they did it. It may have been because one member each wrote all of the songs on one side of the album, or it may have been the extremely short length of the songs across the album. I don't know. Nevertheless, most songs on this album are great and creative. I'd go so far as to call some masterpieces. At its core, mostly every song on this album is punk rock. That being said, the amount of genre-blending that the band did creates songs that feel so unique that they might as well be an entirely different genre. There are songs that are just punk rock, there are songs that blend punk rock with psychedelic rock, there are songs that blend punk rock with a bit of folk. There is simply so much genre-blending across this album. It doesn't sound bad for the most part either. There are definitely some songs that are worse than others, yet the genre-blending is executed masterfully for the most part. I mean, it should really say a lot when I tell you that one of the weakest songs on this album is a fan live-recording of a song that the Minutemen performed. You can literally hear a conversation someone in the crowd is having in this recording. They decided to include it on the album, and it ended up being one of the weakest tracks. That should seem like no surprise, yet that logic is thrown out the window when you remember that this album has nearly fifty tracks. Again, I bring this up only to point out how masterful the songwriting is. That aside, I'll briefly touch on the vocals and the overall theme of the album. The vocals are pretty good across most songs. The singer has a very loose yet professional tone to their voice that goes well with pretty much every song on the album. There are a couple of outliers, yet those are far and few. The meaning of the album is something that I can appreciate a lot. As I said in the intro, the central theme of this album revolves around criticizing American life both past and present. The lyrics can be especially confusing and disjointed at times, yet the themes hit pretty hard when they do click upon a Google search or a lot of time staring at the lyrics section of Spotify. You'll find protest songs, songs that criticize how America handles/handled war, songs that criticize officials, and so much more. I will admit, there are a few songs that are so vague and metaphorical to the point where I still don't understand them, yet I believe I have a good general idea of what they discuss based on the general theme of the album. It's all just great. The production and instrumentation is amazing as well. There are parts on this album, especially the songs that I gave 9s and 10s that just sound incredible in some way. I mean, I really have next to no critiques about this album. There are a few songs that are a bit too experimental, and the 7s that I gave sound a bit too generic or uninspired for my liking, yet I don't have much else negative to say besides that. It's weird how many great albums I've been getting without stop. It's even weirder to find myself to actually be enjoying a punk rock album this much that isn't London Calling. I guess this should go to show me that any genre of music CAN be good if an artist genuinely tries. As a side note, the song average would be a 7.8 had Three Car Jam not been listed on the album. I only include this because that "song" feels so unnecessary outside of the context of the album. Of course, rating it as an individual song it was going to receive a pretty low score.
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Double Nickels On The Dime Score: 9/10
Song Average: 7.7/10

A really fun, inventive album. Loads of variety. I'm always happy to listen to it.

Je me plains souvent. Je râle, je feuillette ce bouquin des "1001 Albums" en soupirant parce que je dois me farcir de la soupe pop des années 80 ou du rock progressif boursouflé qui donne envie de se pendre avec un câble jack. Mais parfois, au détour d'une page, le destin arrête de se foutre de ma gueule et il me balance un truc, un vrai.

Aujourd'hui, c'est jour de fête car aujourd'hui, on parle de "Double Nickels On The Dime" des Minutemen. Et bordel, ça fait du bien car c'est juste "Une putain de déflagration".

Voilà j'ai résumé l'album en une phrase et je vais m'arrêter là, parce que tout est dit.

.....

.....

.....

Mais bon, il faut bien nourrir ce blog et expliquer aux néophytes pourquoi ce disque est probablement l'un des trucs les plus importants jamais pressés sur du vinyle.

Reprenons le contexte, on est en 1984 et j'ai 14 ans. À la radio, c'est probablement Wham! ou Phil Collins qui trustent les ondes avec leurs productions léchées qui coûtent le PIB d'un petit pays. Et pendant ce temps-là, à San Pedro, Californie, trois mecs qui ressemblent plus à des camionneurs ou à des garagistes qu'à des rock stars décident de sortir un double album. D. Boon, Mike Watt et George Hurley, trois ploucs magnifiques, trois génies.

L'histoire, c'est que les mecs de Hüsker Dü venaient de sortir "Zen Arcade", un double album conceptuel hardcore. Les Minutemen, piqués au vif, se sont dit : "Ah ouais ? Vous faites un double album ? Ben nous aussi. Mais nous, on va le faire mieux, et on va le faire 'Econo'." Econo, c'était leur philosophie. Pas de gaspillage, on va droit au but, on joue, on enregistre, on passe à la suite. Résultat ? 45 morceaux oui quarante-cinq putain de titres. Et pourtant, l'album dure moins longtemps qu'un seul morceau de Yes (j'exagère à peine). C'est ça la magie, c'est de la concision élevée au rang d'art martial.

Musicalement, c'est quoi ? C'est du punk ? Oui, mais pas celui des Ramones qui comptent jusqu'à quatre. C'est du funk ? Oui, mais joué par des mecs sous amphétamines qui auraient écouté trop de Captain Beefheart. C'est du jazz ? Dans l'esprit, carrément. C'est un bordel organisé, une collision frontale entre la virtuosité technique et l'énergie brute du punk rock. D. Boon à la guitare, c'est des éclairs de tranchant, des aigus qui te scient les jambes, pas de gras, pas de distorsion inutile. Mike Watt à la basse, c'est le moteur, le cœur battant, un jeu fluide et complexe qui ferait passer Flea pour un débutant (désolé pour les fans des Red Hot, mais vous savez que c'est vrai, d'ailleurs ils ont dédié "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" à Mike Watt, ce n'est pas pour rien). Et George Hurley... ce mec joue de la batterie comme s'il essayait de résoudre une équation mathématique tout en tombant dans un escalier, et pourtant, ça groove sévère.

Ce qui me fascine avec "Double Nickels", surtout quand je repense à mes années disquaire, c'est à quel point ce disque est une anomalie. J'imagine le rayon "Indie Rock" du magasin en 1998. J'ai ce disque en rayon, un gamin arrive, il cherche du Nirvana et je pourrais lui dire : "Écoute, Kurt Cobain adorait ce groupe. Si tu veux comprendre d'où vient l'esprit, c'est là." Parce que oui, "Double Nickels", c'est la matrice, c'est l'anti-rock star par excellence. Pas de costumes, pas de light show, pas de poses, juste trois potes qui jouent comme si leur vie en dépendait.

L'album démarre avec le bruit d'un moteur de bagnole qui démarre et c'est symbolique car on part en road trip. Mais pas un road trip glamour sur la Route 66, non, un trajet quotidien, chiant, sur l'autoroute, pour aller au turbin. Le titre de l'album est une blague de camionneur sur le fait de rouler à 55 miles à l'heure (la limite légale de l'époque, le "double nickel") pile sur la ligne. C'est ça, les Minutemen, ils sont ancrés dans le réel. Ils parlent de politique, de la guerre froide, du racisme, de l'histoire, mais aussi de la mécanique, de la bière, de la vie de tous les jours. C'est politique parce que c'est personnel.

Il y a une chanson, "History Lesson - Part II", qui me file des frissons à chaque fois. D. Boon chante/parle : "Mr. Narrator, this is Bob Dylan to me / My story could be his songs / I'm his soldier child." Et puis cette phrase, qui est devenue la devise de toute la scène DIY américaine : "Our band could be your life." Notre groupe pourrait être ta vie. Putain, c'est beau. C'est l'essence même du punk, pas besoin d'être un dieu doré sur scène. Tu peux monter un groupe, raconter ton histoire, et ça a autant de valeur que n'importe quel opéra rock.

Ce qui est dingue avec ce disque, c'est qu'on ne s'ennuie jamais. Les morceaux font souvent moins de deux minutes, parfois moins d'une. Tu n'aimes pas ce titre ? Pas grave, le suivant arrive dans 30 secondes et il sera complètement différent. On passe d'un funk blanc nerveux à une reprise de Steely Dan (oui, Steely Dan !) jouée sans ironie mais avec une urgence folle, puis à un spoken word délirant, puis à un instrumental acoustique. C'est le zapping avant l'heure, c'est l'époque qui s'accélère, c'est le cerveau d'un ado hyperactif mis sur bande magnétique.

Et puis, il y a cette ombre qui plane, cette tragédie. D. Boon qui meurt dans un accident de van en 1985, juste au moment où le groupe devenait énorme, juste au moment où R.E.M. et les autres commençaient à exploser. Si Boon n'était pas mort, le paysage du rock alternatif américain aurait été différent. Les Minutemen auraient pu être aussi gros que les Pixies ou Sonic Youth... Ou peut-être pas, peut-être qu'ils seraient restés ces trois mecs intègres de San Pedro qui refusent de jouer le jeu du business. On ne le saura jamais mais il nous reste ce monument.

Ce disque, c'est la liberté absolue, c'est le refus des cases, c'est sale, c'est intelligent, c'est drôle. C'est tout ce que le rock devrait être et qu'il oublie souvent d'être. C'est l'anti-pose.

Quand on bossait en radio indé et dans un magasin de disques dans les années 90, on est inondé de promos, de groupes qui essaient de "sonner comme". Les Minutemen ne sonnaient comme personne, ils sonnaient comme eux-mêmes car ils avaient créé leur propre langage, leur propre univers. Écouter "Double Nickels" aujourd'hui, c'est comme ouvrir une fenêtre dans une pièce qui pue le renfermé. Ça fait un courant d'air, ça claque les portes, ça fout le bordel dans les papiers, mais bon dieu que l'air est frais.

Alors oui, c'est une déflagration, c'est une bombe à fragmentation où chaque éclat est une petite pépite de génie brut. C'est un disque qu'il faut écouter fort, très fort, en conduisant (en respectant les limitations de vitesse, ou pas, on s'en fout), fenêtres ouvertes. C'est un disque qui te donne envie de prendre une guitare, même si tu ne sais pas en jouer, et de hurler ta vérité dans un micro bon marché.

C'est un 5/5 indiscutable. Si quelqu'un me dit qu'il n'aime pas ce disque, je ne peux plus rien pour lui. Je le raye de ma liste d'amis, je lui interdis l'entrée de ma maison, je refuse de lui servir à boire. C'est radical ? Peut-être. Mais comme disaient les Minutemen : "We jam econo". Pas de temps à perdre avec les conneries.

Ce disque est un chef-d'œuvre de l'humanité, au même titre que la Joconde ou la recette des pâtes à la carbonara (la vraie, sans crème). C'est brut, c'est vrai, c'est vivant. D. Boon est mort, mais tant que ce disque tournera sur des platines, il sera toujours là, grand, costaud, sautant partout avec sa Telecaster, nous rappelant que la musique, c'est la vie, et que notre vie pourrait être ce groupe.

When you call yourself Minutemen, there's an expectation that your songs are going to be short. And they are - the problem is there are 43 of them. I liked a lot of this, but it could have easily lost a good to 10-15 tracks.

Wat een chaos zeg! In die zin snap ik het label punk wel. Ook wel vanwege de zang. Tegelijk staat dit veraf van aandachtsloze herrie in een schuur. Soms krijgen elementen / instrumenten erg veel aandacht.
De bouwstenen scoren een 'ok' tot een 'prima'. Er lijkt daarmee ook best een prima album te creëren. Maar het was fijn geweest als iemand had gezorgd voor het cement tussen die brokstukken.

2,5 ster

An essential group, though not always easy listening

I've been listening to this for a few years, and I still feel like I'm unpacking it. There's so much material, and a lot of different styles, but it mostly works really well. The only negatives I would have are that there aren't many standout tracks for me, so it's one I just listen to through. But it's quite long, so I rarely get to the end!

So much better than Coldplay

4.75

I’m at a 4.5; I’ll bump it up to a 5 for the site as a vote of confidence, though I do think I’d rather just leave it at a 4.5.

43 tracks, 74 minutes, and the nigh-impossible challenge of making it feel entertaining the whole time. Frankly, it’s a miracle that they basically succeeded for like, 95% of the runtime. This is a fast-paced album, even with the length it has, and I can’t honestly truly say I ever felt a sense of burnout until the final 4 or 5 tracks; not their fault, they’re not bad tracks, the album just starts to get a little long. You can tell why none of the 3 band members picked them for their sides, as they do sort of blend together in more of a less satisfying way.

I really am impressed by how much this stayed entertaining; for 1984, this isn’t reinventing the wheel, it’s just showing a very refined form of it. This is post-punk with a slightly hardcore lean at times, but I would say this leans closer to a more “traditional” sense of rock & roll, taking the DNA of the faster-paced albums we’ve gotten (see: “Group Sex” or the Dead Kennedys album we got), combining them with more of a Talking Heads tone & just a touch of the Rolling Stones. All of that is to say, this is more musically thought out, and just a bit more “safe” than your traditional post-punk album. The tracks being pretty short helps a lot too.

I do think it’s hard to give any kind of track-by-track analysis here; this album does eventually slowly blur together, even with as much focus as I tried to give it. I don’t think it’s an album for everyone; I can easily see disdain for this being as long as it is, or getting bored by some level of perceived repetition. I don’t think it had to be 74 minutes; there are some tracks that could’ve probably been trimmed out, but at the same time, this album does work like a loosely crafted puzzle. It’s more fruitful to listen to this as one straight 74 minute shot; pausing this at any point will make the mind wander, and I certainly found myself wandering at a few points when I did have to pause. It’s surprisingly coherent, even with 43 tracks, usually keeping the energy up in a similar way. I think you have to buy into this to enjoy it, but even still, I think there is fatigue.

I do think this is worth listening to before you die, in the sense that it’s a musical gauntlet that’ll challenge your attention span, but it also stands on its own merits as a really fun listen, especially with how much they manage to pack into a lot of the tracks with such a short time for each. Ultimately, I’m at a 4.5; one I wish I could leave there, but as a vote of confidence for the scale of the project, and for how much they really did keep it entertaining longer than they had any real right to, I think it deserves a bump up to a 5.

While it's not too bad, the album is far too long and I found myself getting bored.

High 2/5.

I had only heard of the name, except I think there was a cover of one of their songs on a Sebadoh album I had. It's interesting, punk but like jazzy also.

This is something that the original list needs more of.

It's angular, artsy, nervously off-kilter and intelligent, yet modest and personable in its execution. It gives off the constant impression of only being seconds away from impending collapse, but it never quite does fall in on itself. Lyrically, this is an exhilarating showpiece of the politically charged, progressive themes attributable to punk music, whilst Mike Watt contributes a more unorthodox method of writing through his abstract "spiels".

Minutemen were considerably ahead of their time, and their importance to post-hardcore as one of its progenitors cannot be understated. It has as much in common with Talking Heads, Wire, even Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa as it does with the likes of Descendents, Black Flag etc al. Their run was cut agonisingly short owing to D. Boon's tragic passing, a proper case of "what if" despite already making a seismic impression.

So sick. Love Mike Watt.

Very good album....

I'm never going to complain about incentive punk.

Good punk tunes, and enjoyed the mixing with jazz. I will admit, I was a little bit tired of it by the end.

Lots of good stuff on this album.
Loved the basslines and the themes