Minor Threat was an American
hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier pu ...
band, formed in 1980 in
Washington, D.C. by vocalist
Ian MacKaye and drummer
Jeff Nelson. MacKaye and Nelson had played in several other bands together, and recruited bassist
Brian Baker and guitarist
Lyle Preslar
Lyle Preslar is an American musician best known for being the guitar player and songwriter for the hardcore punk band Minor Threat. Before that, he was the vocalist for The Extorts, who later became State of Alert after he quit. Despite not per ...
to form Minor Threat. They added a fifth member,
Steve Hansgen
Steve Hansgen is an American musician from Washington, D.C. He is best known as a member of the hardcore punk band Minor Threat. He also played briefly in the D.C. hardcore band Government Issue, and joined Youth Brigade for their short reunion ...
, in 1982, playing bass, while Baker switched to second guitar.
The band was relatively short-lived, disbanding after only three years together, but had a strong influence on the punk scene, both stylistically and in establishing a "
do it yourself
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and se ...
" ethic for music distribution and concert promotion. Minor Threat's song "
Straight Edge
Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, t ...
" became the eventual basis of the
straight edge
Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, t ...
movement, which emphasized a lifestyle without alcohol or other drugs, or promiscuous sex.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...
described Minor Threat's music as "iconic" and noted that their groundbreaking music "has held up better than
hat ofmost of their contemporaries."
Along with the fellow
Washington, D.C. hardcore band
Bad Brains and California band
Black Flag, Minor Threat set the standard for many hardcore punk bands in the 1980s and 1990s. All of Minor Threat's recordings were released on MacKaye's and Nelson's own label,
Dischord Records
Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idle ...
. The ''
Minor Threat'' EP and their only full-length studio album ''
Out of Step'' have received a number of accolades and are cited as landmarks of the hardcore punk genre.
History
Formation and early years
Prior to forming Minor Threat in 1980, vocalist
Ian MacKaye and drummer
Jeff Nelson had played bass and drums respectively in
the Teen Idles while attending what was then
Wilson High School. During their two-year career within the flourishing
Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, the Teen Idles had gained a following of around one hundred fans (a sizable amount at the time), and were seen as only second within the scene to the contemporary
Bad Brains.
MacKaye and Nelson were strong believers in the
DIY mentality and an independent, underground music scene. After the breakup of the Teen Idles, they used the money earned through the band to create
Dischord Records
Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idle ...
, an independent record label that would host the releases of the Teen Idles, Minor Threat, and numerous other D.C. punk bands.
[. ''Kill from the Heart''. Archived from on March 10, 2016.]
Eager to start a new band after the Teen Idles, MacKaye and Nelson recruited guitarist
Lyle Preslar
Lyle Preslar is an American musician best known for being the guitar player and songwriter for the hardcore punk band Minor Threat. Before that, he was the vocalist for The Extorts, who later became State of Alert after he quit. Despite not per ...
and bassist
Brian Baker. They played their first performance in December 1980 to fifty people in a
basement
A basement or cellar is one or more Storey, floors of a building that are completely or partly below the storey, ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, ...
, opening for
Bad Brains, The Untouchables, Black Market Baby and
S.O.A., all D.C. bands.
The band's first 7" EPs, ''Minor Threat'' and ''
In My Eyes'', were released in 1981. The group became popular regionally and toured the east coast and Midwest.
"
Straight Edge
Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated sXe or signified by XXX or X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. For some, t ...
," a song from the band's first EP, helped to inspire the
straight edge movement. The lyrics of the song relay MacKaye's first-person perspective of his personal choice of abstinence from
alcohol and other
drugs
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
, a novel ideology for rock musicians which initially found a small but dedicated following. Other prominent groups that subsequently advocated the straight edge stance include
SS Decontrol and
7 Seconds. Although the original song was not written as a manifesto or a "set of rules," many later bands inspired by this idea used it as such, and over the years since its release, the song and the term "straight edge" became the
zeitgeist
In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history.
Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. F. ...
for an entire subculture, and indeed the basis for a paradigm shift that has persisted and grown consistently throughout the world. The term comes as the point of the story—he doesn't want to do drugs or drink, so therefore the writer has an edge over those who do—a straight edge.
"Out of Step", a Minor Threat song from their second EP, further demonstrates the said belief: "Don't smoke/Don't drink/Don't fuck/At least I can fucking think/I can't keep up/I'm out of step with the world." The "I" in the lyrics was usually only implied, mainly because it did not quite fit the rhythm of the song. Some of the other members of Minor Threat, Jeff Nelson in particular, took exception to what they saw as MacKaye's
imperious attitude on the song.
[ Azzerad, Michael, '' Our Band Could Be Your Life'', New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2012] The song was later re-recorded, and the updated version of the song on the 1983 album ''
Out of Step'', which is slower so the first-person use of "I" would be clearer, included a bridge where MacKaye explains his personal beliefs, explaining that his ideals, which at the time were not yet known as what became a collective philosophy, or in fact, known as "straight edge," "is not a set of rules; I'm not telling you what to do. All I'm saying is there are three things, that are like so important to the whole world that I don't happen to find much importance in, whether it's fucking, or whether it's playing golf, because of that, I feel... I can't keep up... (full chorus)".
Minor Threat's song "Guilty of Being White" led some crtics to accuse the band of
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
, but MacKaye has strongly denied such intentions and said that some listeners misinterpreted his words. He claims that his experiences attending Wilson High School, whose student population was 70 percent Black, inspired the song. There, many students bullied MacKaye and his friends. In an interview, MacKaye stated that he was offended that some perceived racist overtones in the lyrics, saying, "To me, at the time and now, it seemed clear it's an
anti-racist song. Of course, it didn't occur to me at the time I wrote it that anybody outside of my twenty or thirty friends who I was singing to would ever have to actually ponder the lyrics or even consider them."
Thrash metal band
Slayer later
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of ...
the song, with the last iteration of the lyric "guilty of being white" changed to "guilty of being right."
Hiatus
In the time between the release of the band's second seven-inch EP and the ''
Out of Step'' record, the band briefly split when guitarist Lyle Preslar moved to Illinois to attend college for a semester at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Chart ...
. Preslar was a member of
Big Black
Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of ...
for a few tempestuous rehearsals. During that period, MacKaye and Nelson put together a studio-only project called
Skewbald/Grand Union; in a reflection of the slowly increasing disagreements between the two musicians, they were unable to decide on one name. The group recorded three untitled songs, which would be released posthumously as
Dischord's 50th release. During Minor Threat's inactive period, Brian Baker also briefly played guitar for
Government Issue and appeared on the ''Make an Effort'' EP.
In March 1982, at the urging of Bad Brains'
H.R., Preslar left college to reform Minor Threat. The reunited band featured an expanded lineup:
Steve Hansgen
Steve Hansgen is an American musician from Washington, D.C. He is best known as a member of the hardcore punk band Minor Threat. He also played briefly in the D.C. hardcore band Government Issue, and joined Youth Brigade for their short reunion ...
joined as the band's bassist and Baker switched to second guitar.
Some in Minor Threat, particularly drummer Jeff Nelson, took exception to what they saw as MacKaye's imperious attitude on the song "Out of Step." When the song was re-recorded for the LP ''Out of Step,'' MacKaye clearly sang "I don't drink/smoke/fuck" (as was the intent of his words all along). The band also inserted an overdubbed spoken section into the instrumental break before the last chorus with MacKaye stating, "This is not a set of rules, I'm not telling you what to do..." Recording engineer Don Zientara had inadvertently recorded an argument between drummer Nelson and lyricist/singer MacKaye that captured the message perfectly, so this was used. According to Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins' ''Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital'', this argument was over exactly what would be said in the message that Nelson wanted MacKaye to record, stating essentially what he said without knowing it was being recorded. An ideological door had already been opened, however, and by 1983, some straight-edge punks, such as followers of the band
SS Decontrol, were swatting beers out of people's hands at clubs.
Breakup
Minor Threat broke up in 1983. A contributing factor was disagreement over musical direction. MacKaye was allegedly skipping rehearsal sessions towards the end of the band's career, and he wrote the lyrics to the songs on the ''
Salad Days'' EP in the studio. That was quite a contrast with the earlier recordings, as he had written and co-written the music for much of the band's early material. Minor Threat, which had returned to being a four-piece group with the departure of Hansgen, played its final show on September 23, 1983, at the
Lansburgh Cultural Center in Washington, D.C.,
[ Andersen, Mark; Jenkins, Mark ( Soft Skull Press, 2001). ''Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital''. Fourth ed., 2009. Akashic Books. . pp. 122 and 148.] sharing the bill with
go-go
Go-go is a subgenre of funk music with an emphasis on specific rhythmic patterns, and live audience call and response.
Go-go was originated by African-American musicians in the Washington, D.C. area during the mid-60s to late-70s. Go-go has lim ...
band
Trouble Funk, and Austin, Texas
punk funk act the
Big Boys. In a meaningful way, Minor Threat ended their final set with "Last Song", a tune whose name was also the original title of the band's song "Salad Days".
Following the breakup, MacKaye stated that he did not "check out" on
hardcore, but in fact hardcore "checked out". Explaining this, he stated that at a 1984
Minutemen
Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...
show, a fan struck MacKaye's younger brother
Alec in the face, and he punched the fan back, then realizing that the violence was "stupid," and that he saw his role in the stupidity. MacKaye claimed that immediately after this he decided to leave the hardcore scene.
Subsequent activities
In March 1984, six months after the band broke up, the EPs ''Minor Threat'' and ''In My Eyes'' were compiled together and re-released as the ''
Minor Threat'' album. The ''
Complete Discography
''Complete Discography'' is a 1989 compilation album released by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat on the band's own Dischord Records. As the name implies, it contains the band's entire discography at the time, including their three ...
'' archival compilation would follow in 1989, with the additional release of ''
First Demo Tape
''First Demo Tape'' is an archival release of recordings by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat. It was released on CD and 7-inch vinyl in 2003 through Dischord Records. The album comprises previously unreleased demo versions of material ...
'' in 2003. Two previously unreleased songs were featured on the ''
20 Years of Dischord
''20 Years of Dischord'' is a three-disc box set compiled by Washington-based record label Dischord Records to commemorate its 20th anniversary.
Overview
''20 Years of Dischord'' is a concise but representative musical chronicle of the first ...
'' compilation in 2002.
MacKaye went on to found
Embrace with former members of
the Faith,
Egg Hunt with Jeff Nelson, and later
Fugazi
Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...
,
the Evens
The Evens are a Washington, D.C. indie-rock duo, formed in the fall of 2001, comprising partners Ian MacKaye (baritone guitar, vocals) (of Fugazi, formerly of Minor Threat) and Amy Farina (drums, vocals) (formerly of The Warmers). After Ian MacKa ...
, and
Coriky, as well as collaborating on
Pailhead.
Baker went on to play in
Junkyard,
the Meatmen,
Dag Nasty and
Government Issue. Since 1994, Baker has been a member of
Bad Religion.
Preslar was briefly a member of
Glenn Danzig
Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film director, and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He owns ...
's
Samhain
Samhain ( , , , ; gv, Sauin ) is a Gaelic festival on 1 NovemberÓ hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth Legend and Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition''. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. p. 402. Quote: "The basic Irish division of the year ...
, and his playing appears on a few songs on the band's first record. He joined
The Meatmen in 1984, along with fellow Minor Threat member Brian Baker. He later ran
Caroline Records
Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. ...
, signing and working with (among others)
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
,
Ben Folds
Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, who is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., since May 2017. Folds was ...
,
Chemical Brothers, and
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...
, and ran marketing for
Sire Records. He graduated from
Rutgers University School of Law
Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...
and lives in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
.
Nelson played less-frantic alternative rock with
Three and The High-Back Chairs before retiring from live performance. He runs his own label, Adult Swim Records, distributed by Dischord, and is a graphic artist and a political activist in
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...
. The band's own Dischord Records released material by many bands from the Washington, D.C., area, such as Government Issue,
Void,
Scream, Fugazi, Artificial Peace,
Rites of Spring,
Gray Matter, and Dag Nasty, and has become a respected independent record label.
Hansgen formed Second Wind with Rich Moore, a former Minor Threat roadie and drummer for the
Untouchables. In 1992, he worked as a producer on the first
Tool
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
EP ''
Opiate
An opiate, in classical pharmacology, is a substance derived from opium. In more modern usage, the term ''opioid'' is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain (including antagonist ...
''.
Copyright issues
"Major Threat"
In 2005, a mock-up of the cover of Minor Threat's first EP (also used on the ''Minor Threat'' LP and ''
Complete Discography
''Complete Discography'' is a 1989 compilation album released by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat on the band's own Dischord Records. As the name implies, it contains the band's entire discography at the time, including their three ...
'' CD) was copied by athletic footwear manufacturer
Nike for use on a promotional poster for a skateboarding tour called "Major Threat". Nike also altered Minor Threat's logo (designed by Jeff Nelson) for the same campaign, as well as featuring Nike shoes in the new picture, rather than the combat boots worn by Ian MacKaye's younger brother
Alec on the original.
MacKaye issued a press statement condemning Nike's actions and said that he would discuss legal options with the other members of the band. Meanwhile, fans, at the encouragement of Dischord, organized a letter-writing campaign protesting Nike's infringement. On June 27, 2005, Nike issued a statement apologizing to Minor Threat, Dischord Records, and their fans for the "Major Threat" campaign and said that all promotional artwork (print and digital) that they could acquire were destroyed.
"Salad Days"
On October 29, 2005,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
played the first few seconds of Minor Threat's "Salad Days" during an NFL broadcast. Use of the song was not cleared by
Dischord Records
Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idle ...
or any of the members of Minor Threat. Fox claimed that the clip was too short to have violated any copyrights.
Wheelhouse Pickles
In 2007, Brooklyn-based company Wheelhouse Pickles marketed a
pepper sauce named "Minor Threat Sauce". Requesting only that the original label design (which was based on the "Bottled Violence" artwork)
[Del Signore, John (December 14, 2007)]
"MacKaye Mildly Endorses Minor Threat Hot Sauce"
. ''Gothamist
Gothamist LLC is the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. It was founded in 2003 by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. In March 2017, Joe Ricketts ...
''. Retrieved October 23, 2011. be amended, Ian MacKaye gave the product his endorsement.
["Minor Threat Turns Condiment, But Ian Doesn't Mind"](_blank)
''Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
''. Archived fro
the original
on March 2, 2009. A small mention of this was made, where MacKaye commented “I don't have an occasion to eat a lot of hot sauce, but I also thought the Minor Threat stuff was nice.”
Urban Outfitters
In 2013, Minor Threat shirts began appearing in
Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland the United Arab Emirates, K ...
stores. Ian MacKaye confirmed that the shirts were officially licensed. Having spent what he described as "a complete waste of time" trying to track down
bootlegged Minor Threat merchandise, MacKaye and Dischord made arrangements with a merchandise company in California to manage licensing of the band's shirts, as well as working to ensure that bootleg manufacturers of the shirts were curtailed. In comments that appeared in ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'', MacKaye called it "absurd" for the shirts to be sold for $28 but concluded that "my time is better spent doing other things" than dealing with shirts. Dischord had previously taken action against
Forever 21 in 2009 for marketing unlicensed Minor Threat shirts.
Members
*
Ian MacKaye – lead vocals (1980–1983)
*
Lyle Preslar
Lyle Preslar is an American musician best known for being the guitar player and songwriter for the hardcore punk band Minor Threat. Before that, he was the vocalist for The Extorts, who later became State of Alert after he quit. Despite not per ...
– guitar (1980–1983)
*
Brian Baker – bass (1980–1982, 1983); guitar (1982–1983)
*
Jeff Nelson – drums (1980–1983)
*
Steve Hansgen
Steve Hansgen is an American musician from Washington, D.C. He is best known as a member of the hardcore punk band Minor Threat. He also played briefly in the D.C. hardcore band Government Issue, and joined Youth Brigade for their short reunion ...
– bass (1982–1983)
Discography
Original material
* ''
Minor Threat'' (EP, 1981)
* ''
In My Eyes'' (EP, 1981)
* ''
Out of Step'' (studio album, 1983)
* ''
Salad Days'' (EP, 1985)
Compilation albums
* ''
Minor Threat'' (1984)
* ''
Complete Discography
''Complete Discography'' is a 1989 compilation album released by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat on the band's own Dischord Records. As the name implies, it contains the band's entire discography at the time, including their three ...
'' (1989)
* ''
First Demo Tape
''First Demo Tape'' is an archival release of recordings by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat. It was released on CD and 7-inch vinyl in 2003 through Dischord Records. The album comprises previously unreleased demo versions of material ...
'' (2003)
Compilation appearances
* ''
Flex Your Head'' (1982) – "Stand Up", "12XU"
* ''Dischord 1981: The Year in Seven Inches'' (1995) contains the first two EPs
* ''
20 Years of Dischord
''20 Years of Dischord'' is a three-disc box set compiled by Washington-based record label Dischord Records to commemorate its 20th anniversary.
Overview
''20 Years of Dischord'' is a concise but representative musical chronicle of the first ...
'' (2002) – "Screaming at a Wall", "Straight Edge" (live), "Understand", "Asshole Dub"
References
Further reading
*
Andersen, Mark; Jenkins, Mark (
Soft Skull Press, 2001). ''Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital''. Fourth ed., 2009. Brooklyn, New York:
Akashic Books. .
*
Azerrad, Michael (2001), ''
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes From the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991'', Boston, MA: Little Brown, .
*
Connolly, Cynthia; Clague, Leslie &
Cheslow, Sharon (1988), ''Banned in DC: Photos and Anecdotes from the DC Punk Underground 1979-85'', Washington, D.C: Sun Dog Propaganda, .
External links
*
''Washington Post Express'' interview with Brian Baker, 2007* from ''If This Goes On'' by
Sharon Cheslow and
Colin Sears
Colin Sears is an American drummer who has performed in Bloody Mannequin Orchestra, Dag Nasty, The Marshes, Rumblepuppy, Grave Goods, Bloodbats, Los Vampiros, Thundering Asteroids! and currently Handgun Bravado and The Valley Floor. He wa ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minor Threat
Alternative rock groups from Washington, D.C.
Dischord Records artists
Hardcore punk groups from Washington, D.C.
Musical groups established in 1980
Straight edge groups