Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat
| Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat | ||||
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| EP by Minutemen | ||||
| Released | Nov. 1983 | |||
| Recorded | January 3, 30 and May 23, 1983 | |||
| Genre | Post-punk, hardcore punk | |||
| Length | 15:30 | |||
| Label | SST | |||
| Producer | Ethan James, Spot | |||
| Minutemen chronology | ||||
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| Allmusic |
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Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat is the sixth overall release (fourth extended play, or EP, release and their first 12-inch EP) from American hardcore punk band Minutemen.
The EP was recorded rather cheaply even by Minutemen standards; the cost was $50. Most of the songs were cut live to two-track tape at Total Access Studio in Redondo Beach, CA, rather than utilize multi-track recording tape, with longtime SST Records staff producer Spot behind the mixing board. Spot had suggested the live-to-two-track approach after Minutemen queried about the possibility of recording a new EP on four-channel multi-track tape, rather than the 16-track recordings the band had done in the past. This meant that most of the songs on Buzz or Howl... were recorded without any overdubs. The exceptions were the first three tracks on the EP, which were the first recordings Minutemen had done with producer/engineer Ethan James, who would go on to work with them on their seminal double album Double Nickels on the Dime later in 1984.
The sessions cost a total of $50, which covered the live-to-two-track sessions with Spot at Total Access. The Radio Tokyo sessions with Ethan James were done for free, in return for allowing a Minutemen track to appear on the compilation The Radio Tokyo Tapes.
The front cover of the album was initially intended to incorporate a color photograph from National Geographic that SST had permission to use; unfortunately, doing the color separation for the front cover proved to be cost-prohibitive for SST at the time. Instead, a black-and-white ink drawing of D. Boon and Mike Watt having an argument while various items fly around in the background, drawn by Saccharine Trust guitarist Joe Baiza, was used.
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