Minutemen

The Minutemen formed in 1980 with Mike Watt on bass, D. Boon on guitar, and George Hurley on drums. They came out of Southern California's punk scene but never fit neatly into any category. Their songs like 'Corona' and 'Jesus And Tequila' were short bursts of energy that mixed hardcore with funk rhythms and jazz-like structures, all delivered with a political edge that felt more like conversation than preaching.

Their 1984 album Double Nickels on the Dime sprawled across 45 tracks, including 'Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Truth' and 'Theatre is the Life of you.' The record captured their approach: economical songs that rarely passed the two-minute mark, built around Watt's propulsive bass lines, Boon's jagged guitar work, and Hurley's fluid drumming. They worked mostly outside major labels, putting out records on their own terms.

In 1985, D. Boon died in a car accident. Watt and Hurley kept the band going briefly, releasing a few more albums before ending the Minutemen in 1986. What remains is a body of work that feels both of its time and stubbornly singular, full of songs that get their point across quickly and move on.