Minor threat
| Minor threat | |
|---|---|
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 Minor Threat, 1981 |
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| General information | |
| origin | Washington, DC , United States |
| Genre (s) | Hardcore punk |
| founding | 1980 |
| resolution | 1983 |
| Last occupation | |
| Ian MacKaye | |
| Lyle Preslar | |
| Brian Baker | |
| Steve Hansgen (from 1982) | |
| Jeff Nelson | |
Minor Threat was a hardcore punk band from Washington, DC ( USA ) formed in 1980 . The group around singer Ian MacKaye is considered extremely influential, among other things, the straight-edge culture relates to the band.
history
Origins
The origins of Minor Threat go back to the 1970s at Wilson High School in Washington DC, where the then adolescent Ian MacKaye became interested in punk rock through the music of the Sex Pistols and The Clash . A local inspiration was the Afro-American Bad Brains with their high-speed hardcore punk and their furious live performances.
Together with school friend Jeff Nelson, the first musical attempts were made in the band The Slinkees, with MacKaye as bassist and Nelson as drummer. Then the Teen Idles were launched, which together with the band of MacKaye's brother, The Untouchables, and SOA , the first band of Henry Rollins , then Henry Garfield, had their first appearances.
Since there was still some money available after the breakup of this formation, MacKaye and Nelson founded the record label Dischord Records and released the Minor Disturbance EP , which recorded the work of the band - later this label was to document almost the entire DC scene.
Minor threat
With MacKaye on mic and Nelson behind the drums, the next band, together with former Government Issue bassist Brian Baker and guitarist Lyle Preslar, formed the band Minor Threat in 1980, in which they lyrically rejected drugs and thus developed their own self-confidence , which they accompanied with a soundtrack of short, mostly fast, catchy and angry melodies.
In 1981 two EPs by Minor Threat were released on Dischord. First the self-titled Minor Threat EP was released , on which they unintentionally started a movement of the same name with the piece Straight Edge , whose way of life was supposed to represent a group-intensive and clean ideology . A short time later, the four-track EP In My Eyes was released after an east coast tour .
The next year Preslar went to college, Minor Threat paused for a while, but after a good six months he came back and after a while took over the guitar work. Steve Hansgen came as the new bass player. In 1983 the LP Out of Step , recognized as a hardcore classic, was produced with this line-up and released on Dischord Records, which further increased the band's popularity.
Around the middle of the year, Baker left Minor Threat and then joined Dag Nasty , and the band broke up.
After minor threat
MacKaye and Nelson continued to run the Dischord label and played briefly with the band Egg Hunt and then with Embrace . Then they founded Fugazi - although the aesthetic of Minor Threat was retained, musically it was then a bit calmer and more structured in structure and shaped several other bands.
The scratchy guitar sound from Washington DC, which is still popular today, also influenced many early emo hardcore bands and, in contrast to the metallic sound of the New York hardcore school with bands like Sick of It All, is considered a return to the roots of punk.
Appreciation
Minor Threat, along with Negative Approach , Black Flag and Bad Brains , who had a strong influence on the band personally and Black Flag, are the founders of hardcore punk. The straight edge scene in particular is heavily related to the band. Besides the influences they had on these two movements, they also influenced bands from the metal scene . The best known are probably Slayers , who played the songs Guilty of Being White , Filler and I Don't Want to Hear It on their album Undisputed Attitude .
Discography
Albums
- 1983: Out of Step
EPs
- 1981: Minor Threat EP
- 1981: In My Eyes
- 1985: Salad Days
Compilations
- 1984: First Two 7 ″ s on a 12 ″
- 1989: Complete Discography
- 2003: First Demo Tape (recorded 1981)
Videos / DVDs
- 1988: Minor Threat Live (VHS)
- 2003: At DC Space / Buff Hall / 9:30 Club (DVD)
Web links
- Minor Threat ( Memento from December 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- Minor Threat at Discogs (English)