Minor Threat

Minor Threat formed in Washington, D.C. in 1980, ran for barely three years, released a single studio album, and left a mark on punk that outlasted bands with decades more road behind them. Ian MacKaye, Jeff Nelson, Lyle Preslar and Brian Baker built songs that were fast, blunt, and short, many barely clearing a minute, played with a fury that hid how catchy the melodies underneath actually were. Their song "Straight Edge" did something few songs manage: it named a movement, handing a whole sober, drug-free subculture its label and its logic. They booked their own shows and pressed their own records on Dischord, the label MacKaye co-founded, turning DIY from slogan into method. When the band split in 1983, right after releasing Out of Step, it left behind a template that hardcore and alternative musicians have been tracing ever since.