The Politics of Time

Last updated
The Politics of Time
PoliticsOfTime.jpg
Compilation album by
The Minutemen
Released1984
RecordedJanuary 1979 to September 24, 1983
Genre Hardcore punk [1]
Length33:47
Label New Alliance
Producer various producers
The Minutemen chronology
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat
(1983)		The Politics of Time
(1984)		 Double Nickels on the Dime
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Boston Phoenix Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s B− [4]
MusicHound Rock 2/5 [1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Tom Hull C+ [6]

The Politics of Time is the seventh overall release, third album-length release, and first compilation by American hardcore punk group Minutemen. [7]

Contents

Released in between their Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat 12-inch EP and Double Nickels on the Dime double album on their own New Alliance Records label, the album compiles seven tracks meant for a non-SST Minutemen studio album that never materialized, a variety of live tracks of varying recording quality (most done with ordinary cassette machines), and a recording by their predecessor group The Reactionaries.

Part of the sleeve note on the back cover facetiously asks listeners to "note the quality of the recording" on the live version of "Fanatics" (from The Punch Line ). While the recording is an almost undiscernible mess, the cut is apparently included for its historical importance as according to Henry Rollins in his book Get In The Van , on this night at the end of the song, D. Boon had jumped into the audience with his guitar on, hollering the title word of the song while "knock[ing] those skinheads [in the audience] over like bowling pins".

Also of note is a live recording of "Futurism Restated", which had earlier appeared on the 7-inch EP Bean-Spill. The version that appears on this album contains a full extra verse of lyrics not found in the other version (although the lyrics are almost completely undiscernable and the album lacks a lyric sheet).

The Politics of Time would later end up as a song title on Double Nickels on the Dime.

SST Records, after buying New Alliance from Mike Watt and Martin Tamburovich in 1987, reissued The Politics of Time on SST in 1987 on vinyl and cassette, as part of the Post-Mersh Vol. 3 CD in 1989, and as its own CD in 1991.

Track listing

Side one
  1. "Base King" (Boon, Watt) - 1:12
  2. "Working Men are Pissed" (Watt) - 1:17
  3. "I Shook Hands" (Watt) - 0:58
  4. "Below the Belt" (Hurley, Watt) - 0:56
  5. "Shit You Hear at Parties" (Boon, Watt) - 1:06
  6. "The Big Lounge Scene" (Watt) - 1:23
  7. "Maternal Rite" (Boon) - 1:13
  8. "Tune for Wind God" (Baiza, Boon, Hurley, Watt) - 3:05
  9. "Party With Me Punker" (Watt) - 0:54
  10. "The Process" (Boon, Watt) - 1:17
  11. "Joy Jam" (Spot, Boon, Hurley, Watt) - 4:46
Side two
  1. "Tony Gets Wasted in Pedro" (Lazaroff, Watt) - 2:10
  2. "Swing to the Right" (Watt) - 0:41
  3. "¡Raza Si!" (Watt) - 0:58
    • Recorded September 1980 in George Hurley's shed.
  4. "Times" (Watt) - 0:45
  5. "Badges" (Watt) - 0:35
    • Demo recordings done by Mike Watt in his living room without D. Boon or George Hurley.
  6. "Fodder" (Boon, Watt) - 0:42
  7. "Futurism Restated" (Joe Boon, Watt) - 1:30
  8. "Hollering" (Watt) - 0:58
  9. "Suburban Dialectic" (Watt) - 0:42
  10. "Contained" (Hurley, Watt) - 0:57
  11. "On Trial" – 0:39 (Watt)
  12. "Spraycan Wars" (Watt) - 0:55
    • These seven songs recorded live December 26, 1980, at the Bla Bla Cafe in Studio City, California, by Joe Baiza.
  13. "My Part" (Boon) - 1:35
  14. "Fanatics" (Watt) - 0:32
    • Recorded live March 4, 1983, in Brixton, England
  15. "Ack Ack Ack" (Talley-Jones, Johansen) - 0:41
  16. "The Big Blast for Youth" (Tamburovich, Vandenberg, Boon, Hurley, Watt) - 1:20

Personnel

Minutemen

with:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. Boon</span> American guitarist and singer (1958–1985)

Dennes Dale Boon, also known as D. Boon, was an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and songwriter of the punk rock trio Minutemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Hurley</span> Drummer from America

George Hurley is a drummer noted for his work with Minutemen and fIREHOSE.

<i>Double Nickels on the Dime</i> 1984 album by the Minutemen

Double Nickels on the Dime is the third album by American punk trio Minutemen, released on the California independent record label SST Records in 1984. A double album containing 45 songs, Double Nickels on the Dime combines elements of punk rock, funk, country, spoken word and jazz, and references a variety of themes, from the Vietnam War and racism in America, to working-class experience and linguistics.

<i>D. Boon and Friends</i> 2003 compilation album by D. Boon

D. Boon and Friends is a compilation album of home recordings featuring American musician D Boon, of the band Minutemen. The album is the inaugural release of the Hermosa Beach, California-based label Box-O-Plenty Records, started by Boon's one-time roommate Richard Derrick. Most of the tracks are living-room jam sessions done by Boon, Derrick, and Crane, who had previously contributed backing vocals and trumpet parts to Minutemen's Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat and Project: Mersh EP's.

<i>Paranoid Time</i> 1980 EP by Minutemen

Paranoid Time is the debut EP by American hardcore punk band Minutemen. It is also the second ever release by the SST record label, founded by Black Flag's Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski. The album cover is a drawing by the American artist Raymond Pettibon.

<i>The Punch Line</i> 1981 studio album by Minutemen

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."

The Reactionaries were an American punk rock band formed in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, in 1978. The band's continual members were lead vocalist Martin Tamburovich, guitarist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley. The Reactionaries existed for most of 1978 and 1979, practicing regularly but rarely if ever performing live. After their breakup in late 1979, Watt and Boon formed Minutemen with drummer Frank Tonche and Hurley joined Hey Taxi!; Hurley joined Minutemen soon afterwards, replacing Tonche.

<i>Bean-Spill</i> 1982 EP by Minutemen

Bean-Spill is the third extended-play single and fourth release overall by American hardcore punk band Minutemen.

<i>What Makes a Man Start Fires?</i> 1983 studio album by Minutemen

What Makes a Man Start Fires? is the second studio album and fifth release by American punk rock band Minutemen.

<i>Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat</i> 1983 EP by 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.

<i>Ballot Result</i> 1987 live album by Minutemen

"Ballot Result" is a posthumous live album by Minutemen.

<i>The Way Things Work</i> (album) 2005 studio album by Unknown Instructors

The Way Things Work is the debut album by American improvisational band Unknown Instructors, featuring Mike Watt, George Hurley, Joe Baiza, Jack Brewer, and poet Dan McGuire.

<i>3-Way Tie (For Last)</i> 1985 studio album by Minutemen

3-Way Tie is the fourth and final full-length album recorded by the American punk band Minutemen. It is notable for featuring several covers of songs by the Urinals, Meat Puppets, Blue Öyster Cult, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Roky Erickson. The last song, a cover of Erickson's "Bermuda", was sung over the phone by Mike Watt.

Martin Tamburovich was the co-founder of New Alliance Records and vocalist for the short-lived punk/new wave band The Reactionaries. Tamburovich, along with his San Pedro High School classmates D. Boon, Mike Watt, and George Hurley, formed the band in 1978; they disbanded a year later. Boon and Watt then formed Minutemen, and Hurley joined them soon after, but Tamburovich would continue to collaborate with his former band members. Since then, he played with such bands as The Slivers and later The Plebs. He resided near San Francisco and still kept in touch with the surviving members of The Reactionaries.

Saccharine Trust is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza. The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. However, Baiza described Saccharine Trust as the "black sheep" of the SST roster. Drummer Rob Holzman appeared on their 1981 debut Paganicons but left the band to play in Slovenly, replaced by drummer Tony Cicero. After a ten-year hiatus circa 1986 to 1996, the band re-formed and began performing around the West Coast.

Joe Baiza is an American guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Most of Baiza's music touches on a fusion of punk rock and jazz. Eugene Chadbourne cites Baiza as one of the most noteworthy guitarists to emerge from the Southern California punk rock milieu.

<i>Our Band Could Be Your Life: A Tribute to D Boon and the Minutemen</i> 1996 compilation album by Various Artists

Our Band Could Be Your Life: A Tribute to D Boon and the Minutemen was a tribute album for the band The Minutemen released in 1996. It contains 35 tracks of alternative bands covering songs by The Minutemen.

The discography for the Minutemen, an American punk rock band, includes four studio albums, eight extended plays, one live album and seven compilations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minutemen (band)</span> American punk rock band

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, and for their eclectic style, drawing on hardcore punk, funk, jazz, and other sources.

References

  1. 1 2 Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN   978-0-7876-1037-1.
  2. ↑ The Politics of Time at AllMusic
  3. ↑ "The Boston Phoenix 1984-10-02: Vol 13 Iss 40". Internet Archive . Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  4. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "The Politics of Time". Robert Christgau. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  5. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Minutemen". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). London: Fireside Books. pp.  545–546. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8 . Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  6. ↑ Tom Hull. "Grade List: the minutemen". Tom Hull - on the web. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  7. ↑ "The Politics of Time - Minutemen | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.