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''The Punch Line'' is the debut studio album and third overall release by American
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
band
Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Min ...
, and the fourth-ever release from
SST Records 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 elec ...
. After their previous release, ''
Paranoid Time ''Paranoid Time'' is the debut EP by American hardcore punk band Minutemen (band), Minutemen. It is also the second ever release by the SST Records, SST record label, founded by Black Flag (band), Black Flag's Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski. The alb ...
'', sold out its 300-copy pressing,
Greg Ginn Gregory Regis Ginn ( , born June 8, 1954) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for being the leader, primary songwriter, and the only continuous member of the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976 to ...
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''. ''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 Posh Boy Records is a Hollywood, California-based record label owned by the American-born, British-educated Robbie "Posh Boy" Fields, a sometime high school substitute teacher and former copy boy at the ''Los Angeles Times'' who took an interest ...
, 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. 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 Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot Coll ...
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 Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...
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 George Hurley (born September 4, 1958) is a drummer noted for his work with Minutemen and fIREHOSE. Music career Early years Originally from the East Coast, Hurley and his family moved to San Pedro, California, when he was six years old. ...
does a lead vocal (referred to on the album's back cover as "giv(ing) a
speech Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, suc ...
") in the middle of "Ruins". The title track makes fun of General George A. Custer's death at the hands of
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota people, Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against Federal government of the United States, United States government policies. Sitting Bull was killed by Indian ...
during the
Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...
. Another track on the album, the instrumental "Song For El Salvador", reflects D. Boon's support of the
Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (, abbreviated FMLN) is a Salvadoran political party and former guerrilla rebel group. The FMLN was formed as an umbrella group on 10 October 1980, from five leftist guerrilla organizations; ...
in
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
. (He was a member of the
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, based in Washington, D.C., is a national activist organization with chapters in various cities in the United States. CISPES supports the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) ...
, 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

In a 1982 ''
Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
'' review, Robert Payes describes the album as containing " oppy guitar syncopations and abstract, thought-provoking lyrics
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
front songs that combine snatches of Wiry art/punk/jazz." Payes concludes that the record is "worthy of your time."
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
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 Fredric Ruff Jameson (April 14, 1934 – September 22, 2024) was an American literary critic, philosopher and Marxist political theorist. He was best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends, particularly his analysis of postmode ...
, but better-informed than the skinheads they play for." He notes that "where last year's seven-inch ''
Paranoid Time ''Paranoid Time'' is the debut EP by American hardcore punk band Minutemen (band), Minutemen. It is also the second ever release by the SST Records, SST record label, founded by Black Flag (band), Black Flag's Greg Ginn and Chuck Dukowski. The alb ...
'' could pass for speed-rock, the funky dissonance here has no parallel in the genre or anywhere else: not
Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...
, but better-informed than the
Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag (band), Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetso ...
they play with." Milo Miles of ''
The Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...
'' was equally put off by the album's format: "The EP’s 18 cuts average less than 60 seconds each, rudely biting off any grooves or hooks that threaten to settle in; and just to make sure, the Minutemen rotate rhythm leads and switch the center of attention with, uh, harmelodic equality." In its retrospective
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
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."


Track listing


Personnel

;Minutemen * D. Boon - guitar and vocals *
Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ca ...
- bass and vocals *
George Hurley George Hurley (born September 4, 1958) is a drummer noted for his work with Minutemen and fIREHOSE. Music career Early years Originally from the East Coast, Hurley and his family moved to San Pedro, California, when he was six years old. ...
- drums, lead vocal in the middle of "Ruins" ;Production *
Spot Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot Coll ...
- record producer, recording engineer ;Artwork *D. Boon - front cover *George Hurley - back cover


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punch Line, The Minutemen (band) albums 1981 debut albums SST Records albums Albums produced by Spot (producer)