It’s hard to accurately describe the Minutemen without sounding like a pretentious, know-it-all, holier-than-thou piece of shit, but the way they wrote songs was worlds ahead of any of their contemporaries. They’re one of those bands that, if you don’t get it on your first listen, you might never get it. By design, they move from punk to jazz, then from funk to avant-garde protest music without missing a beat. If you were to judge them on their sonic output alone, a lot of genres could claim them as their own, but make no mistake, they are a punk band through and through. They’re ours, and you can’t have them.
“Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat” was released in 1983 at the height of first wave hardcore, yet somehow the Minutemen, as jazzy and funky as they often were, still fit right in with little effort. That’s how great they were. Even hardcore assholes loved them.
Musically and thematically, this record is all over the place in the best ways possible. Each song tells a different story in a different way, and I can’t get enough of it. With lyrical thoughtfulness, a complete lack of desire to fit in, and absolutely no fear of bucking the scene that produced them, “Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat” is one of many monuments to the legacy of a band that will live forever.
James is a writer, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.