Day 224: Minor Threat - Out of Step

I’m gearing up for a new week, by which I mean I’m tired and have chores, so I went back to my oft-treaded waters of lists of short albums that are worth a listen. Today I landed on Minor Threat’s 1983 release Out of Step – if I can explore a new band in 22 minutes today, I’ll count that as a win. Sure, it’s an EP, but we’re still counting it.

Album cover courtesy of Dischord Records

Minor Threat was formed in 1980 in Washington D.C, and in their very brief three year stint together, they became a seminal band in hardcore punk. However, they called it quits when some members of the band wanted to develop their sound into something more melodic. Guitarist Brian Baker had gotten really into U2 and he wanted to model their sound on them, but vocalist Ian MacKaye disagreed. Baker later said it was a good thing to do:

I was dumb! And he wasn’t. So Minor Threat fortunately stopped exactly when it did. In retrospect, that's part of the beauty of it. We didn’t stay together long enough to make any real shit music. That's nice, because now the history is preserved accurately.

Out of Step is set apart by how well thought-out it feels. While it’s steeped in DIY ethos and released on an independent label owned by MacKaye and drummer Jeff Nelson, there’s something about it that comes off as very elaborate and complete. It’s an album about being an outsider, being a black sheep as shown on the cover, that is defiant but also lyrically sophisticated enough to have aged very well, possibly better than a lot of counterparts.

No part of listening to this makes me shocked that they made such an impact in three years, it’s good, I’m giving an 8/10. Also, fun fact: the term straight edge comes from one of their songs, which Ian MacKaye wrote after becoming disillusioned with seeing youths drinking and doing drugs. The titular track of this song definitely reflects that.