Biography of Minor Threat

Minor Threat was the definitive Washington, D.C. hardcore band, writing the rules for straight-edged, hardcore punk rockers. Led by Ian MacKaye, the band was one of the first to reject drugs and alcohol, leading a call for self-awareness, as well as having a fiercely intelligent political bent to their music. Each of their songs were short, sharp, and lethal, made all the more frightening by MacKaye's raging vocals. Minor Threat wouldn't have been half as invigorating and powerful as they were if they didn't have his literate, intelligent lyrics; they were simple, direct, and vicious, much like the band's music. After two years of recording, the band broke up in 1983; MacKaye went on to form the more successful -- but no less uncompromising -- Fugazi, yet Minor Threat remains his most influential band. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine