The Politics of Time

The Politics of Time is the seventh overall release, third album-length release, and first compilation by American hardcore punk band the Minutemen.[7]

The Politics of Time
Compilation album by
The Minutemen
Released1984
RecordedJanuary 1979 to September 24, 1983
GenreHardcore punk[1]
Length33:47
LabelNew Alliance
Producervarious producers
The Minutemen chronology
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat
(1983)		 The Politics of Time
(1984)		 Double Nickels on the Dime
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The Boston Phoenix[3]
Christgau's Record Guide: The '80sB−[4]
MusicHound Rock2/5[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
Tom HullC+[6]

Released in between their Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat 12-inch EP and Double Nickels on the Dime double album on their own New Alliance Records label, the album compiles seven tracks meant for a non-SST Minutemen studio album that never materialized, a variety of live tracks of varying recording quality (most done with ordinary cassette machines), and a recording by the Minutemen's predecessor band The Reactionaries.

Part of the sleeve note on the back cover facetiously asks listeners to "note the quality of the recording" on the live version of "Fanatics" (from The Punch Line). While the recording is an almost undiscernible mess, the cut is apparently included for its historical importance as according to Henry Rollins in his book Get In The Van, on this night at the end of the song, D. Boon had jumped into the audience with his guitar on, hollering the title word of the song while "knock[ing] those skinheads [in the audience] over like bowling pins".

Also of note is a live recording of "Futurism Restated", which had earlier appeared on the 7-inch EP Bean-Spill. The version that appears on this album contains a full extra verse of lyrics not found in the other version (although the lyrics are almost completely undiscernable and the album lacks a lyric sheet.)

The Politics of Time would later end up as a song title on Double Nickels on the Dime.

SST Records, after buying New Alliance from Mike Watt and Martin Tamburovich in 1987, reissued The Politics of Time on SST in 1987 on vinyl and cassette, as part of the Post-Mersh Vol. 3 CD in 1989, and as its own CD in 1991.

Track listing
Side one
  1. "Base King" (Boon, Watt) - 1:12
  2. "Working Men are Pissed" (Watt) - 1:17
  3. "I Shook Hands" (Watt) - 0:58
  4. "Below the Belt" (Hurley, Watt) - 0:56
  5. "Shit You Hear at Parties" (Boon, Watt) - 1:06
  6. "The Big Lounge Scene" (Watt) - 1:23
  7. "Maternal Rite" (Boon) - 1:13
  8. "Tune for Wind God" (Baiza, Boon, Hurley, Watt) - 3:05
  9. "Party With Me Punker" (Watt) - 0:54
    • Recorded July 12, 1983, at Minutemen's practice place in Long Beach, California, by Richard Derrick and James Ellis
  10. "The Process" (Boon, Watt) - 1:17
  11. "Joy Jam" (Spot, Boon, Hurley, Watt) - 4:46
Side two
  1. "Tony Gets Wasted in Pedro" (Lazaroff, Watt) - 2:10
  2. "Swing to the Right" (Watt) - 0:41
  3. "¡Raza Si!" (Watt) - 0:58
    • Recorded September 1980 in George Hurley's shed.
  4. "Times" (Watt) - 0:45
  5. "Badges" (Watt) - 0:35
    • Demo recordings done by Mike Watt in his living room without D. Boon or George Hurley.
  6. "Fodder" (Boon, Watt) - 0:42
  7. "Futurism Restated" (Joe Boon, Watt) - 1:30
  8. "Hollering" (Watt) - 0:58
  9. "Suburban Dialectic" (Watt) - 0:42
  10. "Contained" (Hurley, Watt) - 0:57
  11. "On Trial" – 0:39 (Watt)
  12. "Spraycan Wars" (Watt) - 0:55
    • These seven songs recorded live December 26, 1980, at the Bla Bla Cafe in Studio City, California, by Joe Baiza.
  13. "My Part" (Boon) - 1:35
  14. "Fanatics" (Watt) - 0:32
    • Recorded live March 4, 1983, in Brixton, England
  15. "Ack Ack Ack" (Talley-Jones, Johansen) - 0:41
  16. "The Big Blast for Youth" (Tamburovich, Vandenberg, Boon, Hurley, Watt) - 1:20

Personnel
Minutemen

with:

  • Joe Baiza – second guitar on "Tune for Wind God"
  • Spot – clarinet on "Joy Jam"
  • Martin Tamburovich – lead vocals on "Tony Gets Wasted in Pedro", saxophone on "The Big Blast for Youth"
  • Dirk Vandenberg – trumpet on "The Big Blast for Youth"

References
  1. Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-0-7876-1037-1.
  2. The Politics of Time at AllMusic
  3. "The Boston Phoenix 1984-10-02: Vol 13 Iss 40". Internet Archive. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  4. Christgau, Robert. "The Politics of Time". Robert Christgau. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  5. Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Minutemen". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). London: Fireside Books. pp. 545–546. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  6. Tom Hull. "Grade List: the minutemen". Tom Hull - on the web. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  7. "The Politics of Time - Minutemen | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
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