Minutemen

condition (record/cover): NM / NM - D. Boon, Mike Watt, and George Hurley's 1981 debut on SST. Minutemen rejected hardcore orthodoxy despite their speed and intensity - songs rarely exceed a minute but pack in more musical ideas and political content than most bands manage in entire albums. Boon's guitar lines are jazzy and melodic, Watt's bass functions as lead instrument playing complex countermelodies, and Hurley's drumming incorporates funk and jazz influences unheard in hardcore. Lyrics address working-class politics with intelligence and humor rather than slogans. The band's democratic ethos - everyone contributes equally to writing and decisions - produces music that's both aggressively physical and intellectually sophisticated. Essential document of American punk's creative peak and political conscience.