Minutemen proved destined for punk-rock greatness on Double Nickels On the Dime
Time Capsule: The San Pedro trio’s classic 1984 double album is among the genre’s greatest feats, one that’s impossible to replicate or overrate.
By Abby Jones
Johnny Knoxville knew “Corona” would be a perfect theme song for Jackass when he suggested it to his friends and co-creators, Jeff Tremaine and Spike Jonze. They arrived at a consensus quickly: All three of them were already fans of the Minutemen, the San Pedro, California-bred trio whose short lifespan left an indelible mark on American punk. Over a decade since their untimely disbandment following the death of founding guitarist D. Boon, bassist Mike Watt heard that a crew of skateboarders, stunt performers, and general pranksters wanted to use “Corona”—a rowdy cowpunk highlight of their 1984 masterpiece Double Nickels On the Dime—to introduce their upcoming MTV series. Watt could barely tolerate the clips they’d sent him, but he was charmed nonetheless. “What I liked about it was they were really doing this shit, this was not fake,” he said in 2022. “I can’t watch that crap, y’know. But that’s why I let them use the song.”