Minor Threat were active for a mere three years in the 1980s, and yet, in that short window, they had an indelible influence on hardcore music. The band’s Out Of Step and self-titled EPs are considered landmark works in the genre, and the group’s song “Straight Edge” was even part of the inspiration for the “straight edge” movement that promotes refraining from drugs, alcohol, and other vices.
As Uproxx’s Joypocalypse explains in a new video, the band also set the foundation for the DIY aspects of the hardcare genre.
She says:
“Hardcore through the lens of Minor Threat: fast, harder to co-opt, more accessible. Short, fast, and direct songs, their goal always feels like getting their point across, no excess. No rockstar fantasy to be found, and speaking of fantasy, lyrically, they stayed away from that, more so grounded in personal accountability and change, alienation, frustration. Loud and blunt, there’s not a lot to decipher here.”
That straightforwardness extended to their operations, too, as Joy explains, “Minor Threat kept everything direct, even in the way they ran their band. They did everything themselves. Even down to their label. Dischord Records, the label they signed to, a DIY label founded by two members of Minor Threat. No middleman and also more accessible music because through Dischord, they could keep their prices down.”
She concludes, “Minor Threat showed what you can achieve through DIY and also the impact you can leave in a three-year time span.”
Check out the video above.