by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Or do you want the truth?

This past Sunday, I was lucky enough to catch the Minutemen documentary We Jam Econo, as well as a rare East Coast performance from one of the documentary subjects and master of the "thunder broom" Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose, Stooges) and fellow bass legend Kira (Black Flag), performing under their bass-duo moniker Dos at the closing night of the Suoni Per Il Popolo fest at Casa.

The documentary on one of alternative music's most influential bands, often overlooked in the rock history books (with the exception of their chapter in the amazing Our Band Could Be Your Life), was long overdue and did not disappoint. The Minutemen were just "fucking corndogs" from San Pedro, CA, who existed in the early '80s and unfortunately folded with the death of singer/guitarist D. Boon. During their all too short existence, the Minutemen's brilliance largely went unnoticed, mostly due to their being misaligned with the hardcore movement. Pretty funny, when you consider they truly flew in the face of hardcore convention by marrying Funkadelic groove (albeit played at lightning speed), the urgency of Pink Flag-era Wire and cryptic lyrics that were always open to interpretation.

While most bands they shared stages with were just sleepwalking through mimicry of Black Flag and Dead Kennedys, the Minutemen chose to live in their own musical bubble, citing Blue Oyster Cult, the Pop Group and CCR as influences, but constantly pushing themselves to explore far beyond that. A scene in the film telling of the Minutemen's sense of conviction and musical insularity is when they're playing in front of a cookie-cutter, moshing hardcore audience, and getting gobbed on (how punk!). The hurled phlegm seemed to act like kindling for the Minutemen's fire, as these three "dudes from Pedro" defiantly weathered the storm and passionately delivered one blast after the next.

They didn't play the part of the standard O.C. punk band, and they hardly dressed the part either. Check out the portly D. Boon bopping madly around the stage while sheering heads with his treble blast, drummer George Hurley looking like a surf bum/Flock of Seagulls reject and Watt "flying the flannel" to a sea of Sid Vicious lookalikes - if punk's true essence was testing the constraints of convention, these guys were punk as fuck.

Shortly after the film, Watt and Kira showed just how exploratory the bass could be with an awesome set. Oddly enough, Watt looked like he just leapt off of the screen, still wearing the exact same clothes as in his interview sequences in the movie. Kira stomped, sang, bashed the strings and just generally rocked hard while Watt smiled and held down the root note anchors. Having played together for years, the duo were almost telepathic together, locking in on dynamics and managing to find ground on the more free numbers. The highlight would still have to be Watt's delivery of his signature, teeth-rattling, high-note vibrato.

BUY THE MINUTEMEN'S DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME RIGHT NOW! jonathan.cummins@gmail.com

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