The greatest hardcore punk music has to come out of Washington D.C. In fact, it can only really come from Washington D.C. Minor Threat played fast, hard and loud. Really loud. The noise they make is colossal, its like a cathedral falling down a coal mine. Out of Step is twenty minutes of fire and brimstone; its a bomb going off in blender. All shrapnel and sharp edges. Minor Threat are ear bleedingly good. Alongside Bad Brains and Black Flag, Minor Threat made up the Mount Rushmore of the D.I.Y punk mentality that was exploding out of the United States in the eighties. Jam packed with angry shouts and simple bass lines that just get up and gut punch you, Out of Step captures a feeling that just couldnt be recreated no matter how hard you tried. Minor Threat eventually split up and went their separate ways shortly after the release of their only full length album, with lead singer Ian MacKaye going on to start the almost as brilliant Fugazi. Minor Threat didnt set the benchmark for things to come, they set it on fire and left it outside the Presidents door.
