Bean-Spill

The Minutemen's second LP, What Makes a Man Start Fires?, was recorded in the summer of 1982 but the release was delayed due to SST's lawsuit with Unicorn Records.^[2] To fill the lengthy gap between releases, SST Records partner Joe Carducci volunteered to release an EP on his Thermidor Records label.^[2]

Recorded in two sessions with side A recorded at Media Art in Hermosa Beach with Spot and side B recorded in November 1981 at Casbah Studio in Fullerton, CA.^[2] The latter session also saw the recording of what became the first seven tracks of The Politics of Time.^[2]

The EP includes two of the band's most enduring early numbers, "Split Red" and "If Reagan Played Disco." Bean-Spill is notable for being the only Minutemen record to feature bassist Mike Watt, rather than guitarist D. Boon as the lead vocalist on most of the songs. Boon only sings on "Split Red" and "Futurism Restated".^{[citation needed]}

The original pressing featured on its B-side label a red-and-orange reproduction of a Raymond Pettibon drawing of a man's naked lower torso, with the spindle-hole located on the rectal area, and the caption, "We Need The Money".^[2][3]

While the original EP went out of print after Carducci folded Thermidor and joined SST as a partner, the tracks can be found in their original running order the Post-Mersh Vol. 3 CD, and with the side two tracks preceding the side one tracks on the My First Bells cassette.^{[citation needed]}