| Paranoid Time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | 1980 | |||
| Recorded | July 20, 1980 | |||
| Studio | Media Art Studio in Hermosa Beach, California | |||
| Genre | Hardcore punk [1] | |||
| Length | 6:31 | |||
| Label | SST (002) | |||
| Producer | Greg Ginn | |||
| Minutemen chronology | ||||
| ||||
Paranoid Time is the debut EP by American hardcore punk band Minutemen. [1] It is also the second ever release by the SST record label, [2] founded by Black Flag's Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski. The album cover is a drawing by the American artist Raymond Pettibon. [3]
Minutemen's first record occurred almost immediately after they opened for Black Flag in Minutemen's hometown of San Pedro, California. Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn offered the group a chance to record and release a record, and a late night session at Media Art Studio in Hermosa Beach, California was booked.
The group recorded all seven songs in the order in which they appear on the record, with no overdubbing except for backing vocals by the group and drummer George Hurley's brother Greg. At the beginning of "Joe McCarthy's Ghost", bassist Mike Watt can be heard telling guitarist D. Boon and the Hurley brothers, "You just sing 'Joe McCarthy', want to do that?". A discussion between the four participants can be heard underneath George Hurley's previously recorded drum introduction.
Ginn later told Minutemen how to put out a record, which spurred Watt and Boon to form New Alliance Records later that year.
The EP also appears as part of the My First Bells cassette (1985) and the Post-Mersh Vol. 3 CD. Two tracks from the EP, "Paranoid Chant" and "The Maze" appeared on the SST compilation The Blasting Concept.
A sample of the intro to "Joe McCarthy's Ghost" can be heard on one of the radio ads compiled on the "Crass Commercialism" track on Black Flag's Everything Went Black album.
Early released copies of the EP were printed with black artwork. All other editions are green. In 1982, in Trouser Press , Robert Payes said the record is "a must for the savage Ray Pettibone artwork alone." [4] The following year, however, Byron Coley - writing for The Boston Phoenix - would note that the artwork didn't fit the music. [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [6] |
| The Great Rock Discography | 5/10 [7] |
| Punknews.org | [8] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [9] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 [10] |
John Leland and Ira Robbins wrote in Trouser Press that the EP "offers dogmatic politics redeemed by idiosyncratic Wire-type songs. Kicked along by drummer George Hurley, each abbreviated blurt of rhythm serves as a backdrop for the rants of bassist Mike Watt and guitarist D. Boon. The best is the apocalyptic “Paranoid Chant,” in which Boon screams, “I don’t even worry about crime anymore.”" [11] According to Robert Christgau - who commented on it in his review of the band's first full-length album - the EP "could pass for speed-rock". [12] Coley was more mixed: he found that the band's early music "didn't give much leeway to the imagination", going on to criticize the band's seriousness and the "naive wordplay" in their lyrics. [5]
A retrospective review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine for AllMusic found the EP to be "a startlingly coherent set of primal minimalism -- a cross between Californian hardcore punk and the succinct experimentalism of Wire. It speeds by too quickly for any particular song to stand out, but the band's terse, frenetic energy is invigorating, as are their imaginative ideas." [1] In a 2022 review of their second LP, Huw Baines says of Paranoid Time, "all the pieces are in the right places, from Watt’s wandering bass to Boon’s history-lesson-with-footnotes rants and lacerating leads". [13] In a perfect score review from 2008, Punknews.org reviewer John concluded that Paranoid Time "is infinitely important to independent rock. There is no excuse not to own it." [8]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Validation" | Tamburovich, Watt | 0:38 |
| 2. | "The Maze" | Boon | 0:39 |
| 3. | "Definitions" | Watt | 1:13 |
| 4. | "Sickles and Hammers" | Boon, Watt | 0:47 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fascist" | Boon | 0:56 |
| 2. | "Joe McCarthy's Ghost" | Watt | 0:59 |
| 3. | "Paranoid Chant" | Watt | 1:19 |
with:
Black Flag is an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. Initially called Panic, the band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands, as well as one of the pioneers of post-hardcore. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. The second reunion lasted well over a year, during which they released their first studio album in nearly three decades, What The... (2013). The band announced their third reunion in January 2019.
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was formed in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Tuners, a small business through which he sold electronics equipment. Ginn repurposed the company as a record label to release material by his band Black Flag.
My War is the second studio album by American band Black Flag. It was the first of three full-length albums released by the band in 1984. It polarized fans due to the LP's B-side, on which the band slowed down to a heavy, Black Sabbath-esque trudge, despite the reputation the band had earned as leaders in fast hardcore punk on its first album, Damaged (1981).
Slip It In is the fourth studio album by the American hardcore punk band Black Flag, released in 1984 on SST Records.
Firehose was an American alternative rock band consisting of Mike Watt, Ed Crawford, and George Hurley (drums). They were initially active from 1986 to 1994, and briefly reunited in 2012.
Minuteflag was an experimental jam band collaboration between members of the American punk bands Minutemen and Black Flag. Their only release, an EP, consists entirely of instrumentals with the exception of "Fetch the Water" which features D. Boon on lead vocals.
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Jealous Again is the second EP by American hardcore punk band Black Flag, and the third-ever release on SST Records.
George Hurley is a drummer noted for his work with Minutemen and fIREHOSE.
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Joy is the second EP by American hardcore punk band Minutemen. Recorded not long after the release of their first EP Paranoid Time, it is also the first release on Minutemen's own label New Alliance Records. Their first studio album The Punch Line was released three months after Joy, but Joy was recorded after The Punch Line.
The Punch Line is the debut studio album and third overall release by American punk rock band Minutemen, and the fourth-ever release from SST Records. After their previous release, Paranoid Time, sold out its 300-copy pressing, Greg Ginn invited the band to record again. Less than half the length of most LPs, the total playing time for all 18 songs is a mere 15 minutes. The album was an early milestone release for the band and SST. The Punch Line hit record store shelves three months after the release of Joy, although Joy was recorded after The Punch Line.
New Alliance Records was an independent record label founded by American musicians D. Boon and Mike Watt and longtime friend and associate Martin Tamburovich. They were inspired by the example of their friends in southern California band Black Flag who had earlier formed SST Records. The existence of SST led Watt to understand, according to a 1987 interview he gave to Musician magazine, how easy it was to get a record made: "All you had to do was pay the record plant man."
What Makes a Man Start Fires? is the second studio album and fifth release by American punk rock band Minutemen.
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat is the sixth overall release from American hardcore punk band Minutemen. It was released by SST Records in 1983. It is noted for featuring tracks with greater depth and more conventional song structure than on the band's previous releases.
The Politics of Time is the seventh overall release, third album-length release, and first compilation by American hardcore punk band the Minutemen.
"Ballot Result" is a posthumous live compilation album by Minutemen.
Joe Baiza is a punk rock and jazz guitarist whom Eugene Chadbourne cites as one of the most noteworthy guitarists to emerge from the Southern California punk rock milieu.
Minutemen were an American punk rock band formed in San Pedro, California, in 1980. Composed of guitarist/vocalist D. Boon, bassist/vocalist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley, Minutemen recorded four albums and eight EPs before Boon's death in an automobile accident in 1985; the band broke up shortly thereafter. They were noted in the California punk community for a philosophy of "jamming econo"—a sense of thriftiness reflected in their touring and short, tight songs as well as their eclectic style drawing on hardcore punk, funk, jazz, and other sources.
The Nig-Heist was a punk-comedy-shock rock band led by Steve "Mugger" Corbin, a roadie and live sound engineer for Black Flag and employee of SST Records. The Nig-Heist featured a revolving-door roster of members of the bands who were on tour with Black Flag at the moment. The band used to open for Black Flag on tour and recorded a 7", an LP and had tracks on compilations. They were notorious for their risqué stage antics, including band members playing naked, Mugger wearing a long-haired wig and insulting the crowd. Their songs were overtly vulgar and explicit in a funny way. Their motto was: "The band that cums in your mouth, not in your hands".
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