Minutemen - Paranoid Time

Goddamn, I love the Minutemen. I picked this up in Cambridge in some basement record store that I doubt is around anymore. I'm pretty sure that this was a 1990-1991 or so SST re-release. It's on emerald green vinyl.

Mike Watt is about the nicest guy you could imagine. I was a shy, star-struck kid at a Firehose show at Pearl St. way back when, and I saw him getting a beer at the bar well before the show and went over to say hi. Sensing my awkwardness as I approached, he pulled me aside,  pulled out a seat, and said "Hey kid, what's yer name? Sit here and hang out with me while I make up my set list." So I did. I asked a few questions about life on the road, and how Firehose came about, and he answered them while scratching his chin and jotting down song names. He didn't have to tolerate some geeky 19-20 year old hanging around him, he could have just as easily gone backstage. It all adds to the "regular guy" legend of Mike Watt, I suppose.

There's seven tracks stuffed onto this little 45. Most are under a minute long. This was their first release, and they got a bit more polished as time went on. Watt gets all the fame for his bass work, but Hurley is one hell of a drummer, and Boon could play, too. I wonder what would have happened had Boon stuck around a bit longer.

A: Validation, The Maze, Definitions, Sickles and Hammers
B: Joe McCarthy's Ghost, Fascist, Paranoid Chant
Enjoy!