Minor Threat – Out Of Step 12" record

Minor Threat – Out Of Step 12" record

"Even though it was released less than three years after their formation, Out of Step found Minor Threat as a much more wizened, world weary band than their previous EPs suggested. Recorded after the band’s first break up, Out of Step finds the band reacting to a movement that they basically singlehandedly created.

Gone were the “simplistic,” single-riff chargers like “Filler” and “Small Man, Big Mouth.” In their place where multi-parted, sometimes purposefully unevenly gaited mini-epics like “Betray” and “Look Back and Laugh.” Minor Threat certainly had a substantial hand in creating hardcore during its nascent stage, but already by their first proper album were they creating what would become post-hardcore. See “It Follows” which is more based in a low, rumbling clack than a speed-up rock riff, which also has a brief spoken word section and ends with whistling. That’s not to mention that whereas Ian MacKaye used to ride the riff for maximum fist pounding power, here he was deliberately singing against the music in order to create a more difficult, and more multifaceted contrast.

In part, this may have been the addition of Steve Hansgen on bass, giving the band more room, and more tools to create their wall of sound. Depending on who you ask, this was either the band’s next logical step of their eventual undoing. None of the tracks here are quite as catchy as their first two eps, but that may have been the point. Where the earlier works seemed to pull from gut and heart, Out of Step seemed aimed to stimulate the brain and conjure contemplation instead of youthful impulse.

But, where the music was evolving, the lyrics were keeping up or more. A lesser spoken Minor Threat tidbit is how often the band fought and how fractured they were. Minor Threat is often spoken as this singular, monumental force that changed an entire scene. While that is true, the band’s affect likely wasn’t due to team consensus, but rather, a combination of philosophy contrast and pure luck. That is to say, these guys fought. That’s plainly evident in the lyrics. On “Look Back and Laugh,” MacKaye muses that things that seem so important now might not hold the same weight in the far future. “Betray” tells you all you need to know by the title alone." - John Gentile / Punk News