Produced by Spot, who was the house producer for most of the bands on the SST roster, Zen Arcade is the second studio album by Husker Du. It was recorded in Total Access Studios in Redondo Beach, California in October of 1983 in 40 hours, almost all the tracks except for two were recorded in first takes. Musically, the album featured the competitive songwriting of Bob Mould and Grant Hart, two of the main songwriters in Husker Du. The album experimented with psychedelic music, more guitar driven songs and more melody was introduced into the songs. Heavily influenced by 60s rock, and band’s like The Who, the album was a concept record (often being compared to Quadrophenia), but it was not an overproduced collection of tracks. It stuck with the low-fi quickly recorded fashion of previous Husker Du records. The album tells the story of a young boy running away from an unfulfilling home life only to find the world outside is even worse.
“Something I Learned Today,” opens the album dealing with themes of trust and lyrics such as “Something I learned today/Black and white is always grey,” sung by Bob Mould, which touches on more existential themes, as musically in mixes in elements of hardcore punk with more melodic vocals, “Broken Heart, Broken Home,” another track penned by Mould, deals with the desire to escape an abusive and unhappy home life, “Never Talking to you Again,” brings in 60s rock and folk elements, “Chartered Trips” sung with an impassioned melodic way by Bob Mould, deals with the main character joining the military, it is a mix of melodic punk with post punk sounding basslines, “Pink Turns to Blue” is a Grant Hart penned track, which delves into the devastating impact of drug addiction. “Turn on the News,” is another song by Hart, a critically acclaimed track with lyrics that deals with the mass media’s fondness for sensationalism and negative news headlines. There are also many trippy psychedelic and experimental moments such as “Dreams Reoccurring,” the piano tracks “Monday Will Never Be the Same” and “One Step at a Time.” The final track "Reoccurring Dreams," is a 14 minute instrumental, that is a noisy, discordant psychedelic track that ties in with the opening track and tying up a lot of the themes of the album, showing the odyssey that the main character in this album goes through, hinting it has occurring in his sleep, but revealing an epiphany of the challenges of life still remain.
Double Nickels on the Dime, is a 45-track album and is a musical odyssey of sorts, sharing a common thread whether unintentional or not with Zen Arcade. While Minutemen experiment with styles and genres on this album, lyrically it features abrasive and politically driven lyrics, but not lyrics that can be viewed as sloganeering, it challenges viewpoints. Also featuring two main songwriters, D.Boon tended to write more anthemic tracks that explored political themes such as racism in America, the Vietnam War and the working class, while Mike Watt’s tracks were more abstract, complex and philosophical, being influenced by more literary works such as Ulysses by James Joyce and stream of consciousness literary techniques. Musically, the album featured punk, post punk, folk, jazz, spoken word, country and funk influences. While there wasn’t a lyrical concept like on Zen Arcade, the album’s four sides were based on each member’s cars. A band member sequenced each side and the fourth side (since there were only three members in the band) was titled the “Chaff” side and made up of the leftover songs. This part of the album was inspired by Pink Floyd’s 1969 album Ummagumma.
Musically, Double Nickels on the Dime is somewhat fractured and defied genres, with short pieces of music that create an electrifying record. Influences such as punk, post punk and bands such as Captain Beefheart find their way into the songs, in addition to the other mentioned genres. Recorded by Ethan James (who previously had recorded a compilation track with the band) recorded an album’s worth of songs with the band before they decided to go in and record more songs to make a double album. Songs such as the anti-war song “Viet Nam” is biting with its vocal delivery, musically Boon’s guitars attack with Gang of Four style informed by jazz, as Watt’s melodic funky basslines blend with drummer George Hurley’s maniac, yet controlled grooves, “Cohesion” arrives alarmingly as a Spanish folk track, featuring flamenco styled guitar, “#1 Hit Song” written by D.Boon and Hurley, pokes fun at the bland, commercialized pop music format, “Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?” is a song pulling from a Velvet Underground influence with spoken word lyrics, “Shit from an old Notebook,” features punk influences and an anti-commercialism message with words such as “Let the products sell themselves/Fuck advertising, commercial psychology/Psychological methods to sell should be destroyed,” “Nature Without Man,” with its wiry guitar and abstract lyrics was written by D.Boon and Chuck Dukowski of Black Flag, while “One Reporter’s Opinion” was written by Watt and features discordant post punk sounds with driving bass and drums.
“Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing” was written in the stream of consciousness style mentioned earlier and mocks punk bands that make political statements without really understanding the logic behind their statements, with its garage dynamics, “Corona” is perhaps one of the best known tracks from this album. Decades later used as the theme song for the Jackass TV show and movies, this song flirts with country and folk by the way of Minutemen’s unique punk informed energy, but lyrically highlights the struggles of the working class. “History Lesson – Part II” is an autobiographical song describing the friendship of Boon and Watt playing music together, more of a jangly pop song with lyrics such as “Punk rock changed our lives,” “This Ain’t No Picnic” is a song addressing racism and the strife of the working class, “June 16th” is an instrumental inspired by Ulysses, while “Storm in My House,” features bouncy soulful basslines, encircling drums and scratching sounding guitars. The title Double Nickels on the Dime was inspired by of all things, Sammy Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55” song. They didn’t view driving fast as defiant, instead they decided they wouldn’t drive crazy, they would make crazy music.
With Zen Arcade, Husker Du set a new standard for themselves and also for underground punk music. The album dealt with social perspectives, featuring the concept of a character that was yearning for something and they ultimately find nothing fulfilling, but they accept this is the way it is sometimes. Musically, the band expanded their sonic palate and song writing abilities that would go on to serve a lasting influence. Before Zen Arcade was even released, it influenced Minutemen to create their own double album. The album, Double Nickels on the Dime with its fractured styles and different genres can be seen as a musical version of Ulysses, a punk rock Ulysses. Lyrically, the band would pull from literary stream of consciousness styles to create words with the music, in addition to exploring incisive politicalally motived topics. Both these albums changed the concept of hardcore punk in the 80s, what an album could be and pushed the limits of hardcore and punk music in different ways. There was a cohesion between the two albums, despite being different. Both albums take the listener on an odyssey, one that would go on to define and reshape punk, indie and alternative rock.
2. Husker Du - Pink Turns to Blue
3. Husker Du - Never Talking To You Again
4. Husker Du - Somewhere
5. Husker Du - Standing by the Sea
6. Minutemen - This Ain’t No Picnic
7. Minutemen - Toadies
8. Minutemen - History Lesson – Part II
9. Minutemen - Nature Without Man
10. Minutemen - West Germany
11. Minutemen - The Glory of Man
12. NoMeansNo - Tired of Waiting
13. Japandroids - Avant Sleepwalk
14. Fucked Up - Colour Removal
15. METZ - Headache
16. Bad Hoo - Hot Dr. Pibbs
17. Booji Boys- Bad Boy Blues
18. Husker Du - Dreams Reoccurring
19. Husker Du - The Biggest Lie
20. Husker Du - Masochism World
21. Husker Du - Monday’s Will Never Be the Same
22. Husker Du - Whatever
23. Husker Du - Turn on the News
24. Minutemen - Viet Nam
25. Minutemen - Cohesion
26. Minutemen - Corona
27. Minutemen - Untitled Song for Latin America
28. Minutemen - June 16th
29. Minutemen - Maybe Partying Will Help
30. The Vertical Struts - Fun is No Fun
31. Laughing - Don’t Care
32. Daniel Romano’s Outfit - Where’s Paradise
33. Ancient Shapes - Something is in Flux
34. Pleasure Blimps - Swamp of Dead Horses
35. Heaven For Real - Witchita’s
36. Cindy Lee - Le Machiniste Fantome
37. Minutemen - Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing
38. Husker Du - Chartered Trips
Musically, Double Nickels on the Dime is somewhat fractured and defied genres, with short pieces of music that create an electrifying record. Influences such as punk, post punk and bands such as Captain Beefheart find their way into the songs, in addition to the other mentioned genres. Recorded by Ethan James (who previously had recorded a compilation track with the band) recorded an album’s worth of songs with the band before they decided to go in and record more songs to make a double album. Songs such as the anti-war song “Viet Nam” is biting with its vocal delivery, musically Boon’s guitars attack with Gang of Four style informed by jazz, as Watt’s melodic funky basslines blend with drummer George Hurley’s maniac, yet controlled grooves, “Cohesion” arrives alarmingly as a Spanish folk track, featuring flamenco styled guitar, “#1 Hit Song” written by D.Boon and Hurley, pokes fun at the bland, commercialized pop music format, “Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?” is a song pulling from a Velvet Underground influence with spoken word lyrics, “Shit from an old Notebook,” features punk influences and an anti-commercialism message with words such as “Let the products sell themselves/Fuck advertising, commercial psychology/Psychological methods to sell should be destroyed,” “Nature Without Man,” with its wiry guitar and abstract lyrics was written by D.Boon and Chuck Dukowski of Black Flag, while “One Reporter’s Opinion” was written by Watt and features discordant post punk sounds with driving bass and drums.
“Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing” was written in the stream of consciousness style mentioned earlier and mocks punk bands that make political statements without really understanding the logic behind their statements, with its garage dynamics, “Corona” is perhaps one of the best known tracks from this album. Decades later used as the theme song for the Jackass TV show and movies, this song flirts with country and folk by the way of Minutemen’s unique punk informed energy, but lyrically highlights the struggles of the working class. “History Lesson – Part II” is an autobiographical song describing the friendship of Boon and Watt playing music together, more of a jangly pop song with lyrics such as “Punk rock changed our lives,” “This Ain’t No Picnic” is a song addressing racism and the strife of the working class, “June 16th” is an instrumental inspired by Ulysses, while “Storm in My House,” features bouncy soulful basslines, encircling drums and scratching sounding guitars. The title Double Nickels on the Dime was inspired by of all things, Sammy Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55” song. They didn’t view driving fast as defiant, instead they decided they wouldn’t drive crazy, they would make crazy music.
With Zen Arcade, Husker Du set a new standard for themselves and also for underground punk music. The album dealt with social perspectives, featuring the concept of a character that was yearning for something and they ultimately find nothing fulfilling, but they accept this is the way it is sometimes. Musically, the band expanded their sonic palate and song writing abilities that would go on to serve a lasting influence. Before Zen Arcade was even released, it influenced Minutemen to create their own double album. The album, Double Nickels on the Dime with its fractured styles and different genres can be seen as a musical version of Ulysses, a punk rock Ulysses. Lyrically, the band would pull from literary stream of consciousness styles to create words with the music, in addition to exploring incisive politicalally motived topics. Both these albums changed the concept of hardcore punk in the 80s, what an album could be and pushed the limits of hardcore and punk music in different ways. There was a cohesion between the two albums, despite being different. Both albums take the listener on an odyssey, one that would go on to define and reshape punk, indie and alternative rock.
Show 1046 (Originally Aired On July 6th)(Zen Arcade & Double Nickels on the Dime):
1. Husker Du - Something I Learned Today2. Husker Du - Pink Turns to Blue
3. Husker Du - Never Talking To You Again
4. Husker Du - Somewhere
5. Husker Du - Standing by the Sea
6. Minutemen - This Ain’t No Picnic
7. Minutemen - Toadies
8. Minutemen - History Lesson – Part II
9. Minutemen - Nature Without Man
10. Minutemen - West Germany
11. Minutemen - The Glory of Man
12. NoMeansNo - Tired of Waiting
13. Japandroids - Avant Sleepwalk
14. Fucked Up - Colour Removal
15. METZ - Headache
16. Bad Hoo - Hot Dr. Pibbs
17. Booji Boys- Bad Boy Blues
18. Husker Du - Dreams Reoccurring
19. Husker Du - The Biggest Lie
20. Husker Du - Masochism World
21. Husker Du - Monday’s Will Never Be the Same
22. Husker Du - Whatever
23. Husker Du - Turn on the News
24. Minutemen - Viet Nam
25. Minutemen - Cohesion
26. Minutemen - Corona
27. Minutemen - Untitled Song for Latin America
28. Minutemen - June 16th
29. Minutemen - Maybe Partying Will Help
30. The Vertical Struts - Fun is No Fun
31. Laughing - Don’t Care
32. Daniel Romano’s Outfit - Where’s Paradise
33. Ancient Shapes - Something is in Flux
34. Pleasure Blimps - Swamp of Dead Horses
35. Heaven For Real - Witchita’s
36. Cindy Lee - Le Machiniste Fantome
37. Minutemen - Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing
38. Husker Du - Chartered Trips
To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the July 6 file to download/stream the episode.
Show 1045 (Originally Aired On June 29th, 2024)(Prince Purple Rain, X, Dion Lunadon, Metz, Brainrust):
1. The Vanrays - Hey! Alright Now!2. Julie Doirion - Last Night I Saw My Love
3. Fontaines D.C. - Favourite
4. The Polecats - Let’s Go Crazy
5. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Take Me With U
6. Dump - The Beautiful Ones
7. Of Montreal - Computer Blue
8. Brett Farkas - Darling Nikki
9. The Pursuit of Happiness - When Doves Cry
10. Lacy Dacus -I Would Die 4 U
11. Prince - Baby I’m A Star (1981 Demo)
12. Teddybears - Purple Rain
13. Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds - East of East
14. Habibi - Do You Want Me Now
15. Eye Ball - Mood Piece
16. LA Drugz - All the Time
17. X - Big Black X
18. Dion Lunadon - Zenith Forever
19. Golden Shitters - City of Doom
20. Chain Whip - Class Decay
21. Tough Age - Hundo Pocket
22. Shearing Pinx - Sick Hands Off
23. METZ - Glass Eye
24. Brainrust - Bikeshedding
25. Wine Lips - Stimulation
26. Temps - Rusted
To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the June 29 file to download/stream the episode.
2. Weed - Gunshy
3. Eric’s Trip - My Room
4. Telstar Drugs - Pulley
5. U.S. Girls - Jack
6. Guided By Voices - Hardcore UFO’s
7. Guided By Voices - Buzzards and Deadly Crows
8. Guided By Voices - Hot Freaks
9. Guided By Voices - Echos Myron
10. Guided By Voices - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory
11. Guided By Voices - Gold Star for Robot Boy
12. Guided By Voices - The Queen of Cans and Jars
13. Guided By Voices - Demons Are Real
14. Guided By Voices - I Am A Scientist
15. James Chances & The Contortions - Designed to Kill
16. James White & the Blacks - White Devil
17. James Chance & Pill Factory - That’s Where Your Heartaches Begin
18. The Contortions - Dish it Out
19. The Ramblin’ Ambassadors - Hemi Has Beems
20. Jenny Omnichord - When the Ice Worms Nest Again
21. Ariel, Mathias and Shotgun Jimmie - Save Me
22. The Trampoline Delay - The Right Stuff
23. The Burning Hell - Fuck the Government, I Love You
24. Ducks LTD. - When You’re Outside
25. Teenage Jesus & the Jerks - Less of Me
26. James White & the Blacks - The Twitch
27. James White & The Blacks - Melt Yourself Down
28. James Chance & the Contortions - Contort Yourself
Show 1044 (Originally Aired On June 22nd, 2024)(Guided By Voices Bee Thousand 40th Anniversary, James Chance):
1. Cola - Bell Wheel2. Weed - Gunshy
3. Eric’s Trip - My Room
4. Telstar Drugs - Pulley
5. U.S. Girls - Jack
6. Guided By Voices - Hardcore UFO’s
7. Guided By Voices - Buzzards and Deadly Crows
8. Guided By Voices - Hot Freaks
9. Guided By Voices - Echos Myron
10. Guided By Voices - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory
11. Guided By Voices - Gold Star for Robot Boy
12. Guided By Voices - The Queen of Cans and Jars
13. Guided By Voices - Demons Are Real
14. Guided By Voices - I Am A Scientist
15. James Chances & The Contortions - Designed to Kill
16. James White & the Blacks - White Devil
17. James Chance & Pill Factory - That’s Where Your Heartaches Begin
18. The Contortions - Dish it Out
19. The Ramblin’ Ambassadors - Hemi Has Beems
20. Jenny Omnichord - When the Ice Worms Nest Again
21. Ariel, Mathias and Shotgun Jimmie - Save Me
22. The Trampoline Delay - The Right Stuff
23. The Burning Hell - Fuck the Government, I Love You
24. Ducks LTD. - When You’re Outside
25. Teenage Jesus & the Jerks - Less of Me
26. James White & the Blacks - The Twitch
27. James White & The Blacks - Melt Yourself Down
28. James Chance & the Contortions - Contort Yourself
To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the June 22 file to download/stream the episode.
2. Francoise Hardy - Ill Est Tout Pour Moi
3. Cindy Lee - Dracula
4. Cate Le Bon & Bradford Cox - Secretary
5. The Scenics - Farm Reports and Test Patterns
6. The Ichi-Bons - Leopard Skin
7. The Goldstars - No Way
8. Kosmetika - Reward Risk
9. Packs - Her Garden
10. Fugazi - Cassavetes (1992 Steve Albini Demo)
11. Shellac - Scrappers
12. Slint - Rhoda
13. Protomartyr - Fun in Hi Skool
14. Sham Family - React
15. Julie & Dany - Tomate
16. Julie Doirion - Another Second Chance
17. Julie Doirion - Dreamed I Was
18. Jon Mckiel - Still Life
19. Motorists - Light Against the Shade
20. Wolfwolf - Twenty One
21. La Securite - Try Again
22. Rick White and The Sadies - Spellbound
23. No Beauty - June
24. Knitting - Spirit Gum
25. Miranda & The Beat - Earthquake Water
26. Amyl & The Sniffers - U Should Not Be Doing That
27. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Down at the Rock and Roll Club
Show 1043 (Originally Aired On June 15th, 2024)(Francoise Hardy, The Scenics, Julie Doiron, Motorists):
1. Francoise Hardy - Les Temps De L’Amour2. Francoise Hardy - Ill Est Tout Pour Moi
3. Cindy Lee - Dracula
4. Cate Le Bon & Bradford Cox - Secretary
5. The Scenics - Farm Reports and Test Patterns
6. The Ichi-Bons - Leopard Skin
7. The Goldstars - No Way
8. Kosmetika - Reward Risk
9. Packs - Her Garden
10. Fugazi - Cassavetes (1992 Steve Albini Demo)
11. Shellac - Scrappers
12. Slint - Rhoda
13. Protomartyr - Fun in Hi Skool
14. Sham Family - React
15. Julie & Dany - Tomate
16. Julie Doirion - Another Second Chance
17. Julie Doirion - Dreamed I Was
18. Jon Mckiel - Still Life
19. Motorists - Light Against the Shade
20. Wolfwolf - Twenty One
21. La Securite - Try Again
22. Rick White and The Sadies - Spellbound
23. No Beauty - June
24. Knitting - Spirit Gum
25. Miranda & The Beat - Earthquake Water
26. Amyl & The Sniffers - U Should Not Be Doing That
27. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Down at the Rock and Roll Club
To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the June 15 file to download/stream the episode.
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