Here’s the central paradox of the Minutemen: what makes them so great and so loveable and their music so powerful is how normal they seem as people. They are pure and perfect representations of the everyday working class American, and they believe that everybody can and should make art out of their everyday life, no matter their race, class or creed. And yet there’s absolutely nothing normal or everyday about Mike Watt, D. Boon and George Hurley, or the art that they made together.
Their value—and they were extremely valuable, one of the absolute greatest rock bands of all time, and perhaps the most admirable one to ever exist—isn’t just in their music but their influence and their inspiration; not because they might’ve convinced some kids to pick up guitars and bash out in their garage, but because the Minutemen were paragons of doing things the right way. They had a conscience. They believed in fairness and equality and weren’t strident or uptight about it. All of this ripples through We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen, Tim Irwin’s 2005 documentary that tracks the band’s history, the deep bond between Watt and Boon, and the ideals that permeated everything they did. Irwin captures why people love this band so much still, decades after Boon’s untimely death, through original interviews and copious footage from the early ’80s. We Jam Econo is just like the band: humble, workmanlike and gloriously transcendent.
Produced by Keith Schieron in association with Rocket Fuel Films Productions
The Fat Angel Sings 