Minor Threat

Minor Threat burned hot and fast out of Washington, D.C., a hardcore punk band that singer Ian MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson put together at the end of 1980, after the two had already knocked around in other groups side by side. They drafted Brian Baker on bass and Lyle Preslar on guitar, and what came out was music played like a dare: songs over almost before they start, MacKaye barking every line as if the room might empty before he finished. In 1982 Steve Hansgen took over the bass and Baker switched to a second guitar, which only made the assault denser.

The self-titled 1981 EP carried "Straight Edge", the song that handed a whole movement its name and its creed: no alcohol, no drugs, no promiscuous sex. Nobody had to give them permission to release a record, either. Every note they cut came out on Dischord Records, the label MacKaye and Nelson ran themselves, and that stubborn do-it-yourself approach to putting out records and promoting shows became part of the hardcore blueprint. Out of Step followed in 1983.

By September 1983 it was over, 3 years after it started. But alongside Bad Brains, their fellow travelers in the D.C. scene, and Black Flag out in California, Minor Threat set the standard that a generation of hardcore bands measured themselves against, and both EPs are still held up as landmarks of the genre.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.