Double Nickels on the Dime - 25th Anniversary

Almost missed this ladies and gentlemen, and that just wouldn’t have been right.

It was 25 years ago in June that the Minutemen realesed their LA post-punk poster-child album ‘Double Nickels on the Dime’ which today is seen as one of the best American punk rock albums of the 1980’s. And quite rightly so too.

45 tracks combining the finer elements of Punk, rock, country, Jazz, blues and spoken word, covering a variety of themes touching on the Vietnam war and racism in America to the human language the working class experience and home.
They chose to ignore conventional song structures and instead experimented with different rhythms, textures and dynamics. The album tracks are mostly all very brief with only one song tipping the 3 minute barrier.

Although it wasn’t commercially successful on its release on SST, it marked a point in time when punk bands started to shrug off the shackles and limitations of the Hardcore punk scene and started doing their own thing.

Mike Watt(Minutemen, fIREHOSE, The Stooges) and the tragically departed D. Boon, were childhood pals and grew up in the small town of San Pedro, California  listening and learning to play music together until 1976 when they discovered punk. The next few years saw Watt and Boon in short lived band Starstruck, then forming The Reactionaries with drummer George Hurley and Vocalist Martin Tamburovich. This dispanded and then in January 1980 Boon and Watt formed the Minutemen. George Hurley had joined a different band after The Reactionaries disbanded but eventually joined Watt and Boon in the Minutemen in June 1980. Their very first gig was opening for Black Flag.

The next 5 years saw the Minutemen release the LP’s ‘The Punch Line’(1981), ‘What makes a man start fires?’(1983), ‘The Politics of Time(1984)’, ‘Double Nickels on the Dime’(1984) and ‘3-Way Tie for Last’(1985) and also a host of EP’s throughout this time.

Their final gig was with an up-and-coming band called R.E.M. on the 13th December 1985, just over a week before D. Boon was killed in a Van accident on the 22nd December 1985, putting an end to the Minutemen. Watt spiralled in to depression but was picked up and supported, notably by Sonic Youth who helped and encouraged him continue playing as he was just about ready to give up music altogether.
To this day every piece of media that Mike Watt plays on is dedicated to D. Boon, and he has been quoted as saying ‘Double Nickels on the Dime’ is the best album he ever played on.

High standing players such as Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers cite Mike Watt as an influence on his bass playing from an early age and he will be appearing as one of our bass gods in weeks to come.

For now though, do yourself a favour if you haven’t already, go get ‘Double Nickles on the Dime’ and celebrate the anniversary of what I personally believe to be one of the most important records in punk rock history.

I jam econo.