Relaxing with the band that is "good for you"

KERSTIN and ANNIKA returned home from their RENO vacation yesterday. JILL and I drove to CHICAGO and MIDWAY AIRPORT to retrieve them, we ate dinner in the suburbs, then returned home. The travel meant we were all tired. I relaxed before bed by beginning the chapter devoted to the MINUTEMEN in "OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE: SCENES FROM THE AMERICAN INDIE UNDERGROUND 1981-1991" by MICHAEL AZERRAD and listening to the band's classic album "DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME." I've always loved the Minutemen for the band's ability to merge punk, jazz and funk into short but memorable tunes. Azerrad writes about the bravery of the trio from gritty San Pedro, Calif.: "If you're working class, you don't start a band to just scrape by; you start a band to get rich. So art bands, with their inherently limited commercial prospects, were mainly the province of the affluent. Which makes the Minutemen all the braver -- they had no hope of commercial success, and yet they soldiered on through 12 records in five years, an amazing 75 songs in 1984 alone." The Minutemen were like a punk band playing jazz or a jazz band playing punk, and I recommend "Double Nickels on the Dime" as highly as I recommend any album. Azerrad writes about the band introducing a cerebral element to Southern California's punk scene: "They were the band that was good for you, like dietary fiber. The only thing was most people wanted a cheeseburger instead." I certainly felt better last night, having listened to the Minutemen.