The Punch Line

Last updated
The Punch Line
ThePunchLine.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 1, 1981
RecordedJuly 1981
StudioMedia Art Studio
(Hermosa Beach, California)
Genre Hardcore punk [1]
Length15:00
Label SST (004)
Producer Spot
Minutemen chronology
Joy
(1981)
The Punch Line
(1981)
Bean-Spill
(1982)

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. [2] 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. [3]

Contents

The Punch Line also appears on the My First Bells cassette and the Post-Mersh Vol. 1 CD. The opening track, "Search", represented Minutemen on the second Rodney on the ROQ compilation album on Posh Boy Records, while four other songs, including the title track, were featured on the compilation cassette The Future Looks Bright Ahead, jointly issued by Posh Boy and SST in 1981. "Boiling" and "Games" were featured on the seminal SST compilation The Blasting Concept.

Recording

Minutemen, seeking to be as economical as possible in recording their first album, recorded The Punch Line during a late-night session (when studio time was the cheapest), recorded on previously used tape, and recorded the songs exactly in the order in which they appeared on the record, essentially live. [4] Overdubs were minimal if anything; Hurley's vocal on "Ruins" was actually cut during the basic track stages and picked up by the overhead drum mics.

Spot revealed during his interview for the Minutemen documentary We Jam Econo (preserved in the DVD's deleted scenes section) that the first pressing of the record was done with what he considered to be an inferior mastering job and set of stampers; he took possession of the stampers in order to prevent further pressings from being done, forcing a remaster that was used on all vinyl pressings since then. The remastered vocals sound significantly different from the original pressing in which the voices are deeper and slightly muffled.

Content

The Punch Line is also notable for being the only album to feature lead vocals from all three Minutemen. Bassist and primary songwriter Mike Watt sings lead vocals on several tracks, including the opening track "Search", "Ruins", and the last 3 of the album, "Gravity", "Warfare" and "Static", while drummer George Hurley does a lead vocal (referred to on the album's back cover as "giv(ing) a speech") in the middle of "Ruins".

The title track makes fun of General George A. Custer's death at the hands of Sitting Bull during the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Another track on the album, the instrumental "Song For El Salvador", reflects D. Boon's support of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in El Salvador. (He was a member of the NGO Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, or CISPES).

Even though the group's name was a reference to their personal and political ideology and not a reflection of the average length of their songs, only two songs on The Punch Line pass the one-minute mark. Most average between 45–60 seconds.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Boston Phoenix Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
The Great Rock Discography 4/10 [7]
MusicHound Rock 4/5 [8]
The Village Voice B [9]

In a 1982 Trouser Press review, Robert Payes describes the album as containing "[c]hoppy guitar syncopations and abstract, thought-provoking lyrics [that] front songs that combine snatches of Wiry art/punk/jazz." Payes concludes that the record is "worthy of your time." [10] Robert Christgau was more mixed, calling the band "politniks who love punk, with a name that mocks hardcore's rightwing rep and their own aesthetic--these eighteen "songs" average under fifty seconds apiece. The lyrics don't rhyme or even scan, less poems than the jottings of young men given to cultural bullshit. [...] not Fredric Jameson, but better-informed than the skinheads they play for." He notes that "where last year's seven-inch Paranoid Time could pass for speed-rock, the funky dissonance here has no parallel in the genre or anywhere else: not Ornette Coleman, but better-informed than the Circle Jerks they play with." [9]

In its retrospective AllMusic entry, Mark Deming notes that the album "works better as a unified sonic assault than as a collection of tunes, but moments do stand out, especially "Tension," "Fanatics," and the title cut, which certainly lends a new perspective to Native American history." He concludes by calling the album "as wildly inventive as anything spawned by American punk, and the band would only get better on subsequent releases." [1]

Track listing

"this side"
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Search" George Hurley, Mike Watt 0:53
2."Tension" Martin Tamburovich, Watt1:20
3."Games" D. Boon, Watt1:04
4."Boiling"Hurley, Watt0:57
5."Disguises"Boon0:48
6."The Struggle"Boon0:41
7."Monuments"Hurley, Watt0:51
8."Ruins"Hurley, Watt0:49
9."Issued"Hurley, Watt0:41
"other side"
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."The Punch Line"Watt0:41
11."Song for El Salvador"Boon0:32
12."History Lesson"Boon0:38
13."Fanatics"Watt0:31
14."No Parade"Boon0:51
15."Straight Jacket"Watt0:59
16."Gravity"Hurley, Watt0:57
17."Warfare"Hurley, Watt0:55
18."Static"Boon, Watt0:52

Personnel

Minutemen
Production
Artwork

Related Research Articles

SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was first founded in 1966 by Ginn at age 12 as Solid State Transmitters, 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.

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

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.

<i>Minuteflag</i> 1986 EP by Black Flag and Minutemen

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.

<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>Joy</i> (EP) 1981 EP by The Minutemen

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.

<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>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>The Politics of Time</i> 1984 compilation album by The Minutemen

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

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

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

<i>Contemplating the Engine Room</i> 1997 studio album by Mike Watt

Contemplating the Engine Room is a punk rock opera by Minutemen veteran Mike Watt. Released in 1997, the album is a punk rock song cycle that uses navy life as an extended metaphor for both Watt's family history and his first band, the Minutemen. The album was greeted with a positive response. The cover art features a picture of Watt's father in his Navy uniform.

<i>Ragin, Full-On</i> 1986 studio album by fIREHOSE

Ragin', Full-On is the first album by American alternative rock band fIREHOSE. It was released after the breakup of the influential punk rock band Minutemen due to the death of the guitarist D. Boon. Like all fIREHOSE albums, Ragin', Full-On is dedicated to Boon.

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.

<i>Two Things at Once</i> 1988 compilation album by the Descendents

Two Things at Once is a compilation album by the American punk rock band the Descendents, released in 1988 through SST Records. It combines the band's 1982 debut album Milo Goes to College with the 1985 release Bonus Fat, itself a compilation of 1981's Fat EP, 1979's "Ride the Wild" / "It's a Hectic World" single, and the track "Global Probing" from a 1981 compilation titled Chunks. Two Things at Once has been described by critics as an essential collection of the band's early years.

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

<i>My First Bells</i> 1985 compilation album by The Minutemen

My First Bells is a compilation album by the American punk rock band Minutemen, released on SST Records in 1985.

Angst was an American band from San Francisco, California.

<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 3 The Punch Line at AllMusic
  2. Azerrad, Michael (2001). Our Band Could Be Your Life : scenes from the American indie underground 1981 - 1991 (1. ed.). Boston [u.a.]: Little, Brown. ISBN   0-316-06379-7.
  3. Ibarra, Craig (2015). A Wailing Of A Town: An Oral History of Early San Pedro Punk And More 1977-1985 . END FWY. pp. 101–102. ISBN   978-0-9860971-0-2.
  4. Baines, Huw. "The Genius Of… What Makes a Man Start Fires? by Minutemen". guitar.com. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  5. "The Boston Phoenix 1982-06-01: Vol 11 Iss 22". Boston Phoenix. June 1, 1982 via Internet Archive.
  6. Larkin, Colin (April 16, 1998). "The encyclopedia of popular music". London : Macmillan via Internet Archive.
  7. Martin C. Strong (1998). The Great Rock Discography (1st ed.). Canongate Books. ISBN   978-0-86241-827-4 . Retrieved March 15, 2020.
  8. Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN   978-0-7876-1037-1.
  9. 1 2 Robert Christgau. "Minutemen discography review" . Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  10. Payes, Robert (August 1982). "American Underground". Trouser Press . Vol. 9, no. 6. New York. p. 47. Retrieved December 18, 2021.