First Demo Tape

First Demo Tape documents Minor Threat’s very first visit to Inner Ear Studio in February 1981. No one in the band was yet 20, but they were deadly serious. Minor Threat played with a ferocity that stood out even in the extreme world of hardcore punk. The band's chemistry rested not only in the enraged idealism of its lyrics but in the dual attack of Ian MacKaye’s gnashing vocals and the buzzsaw guitar work of Lyle Preslar (whose flame-burst Les Paul was as much a Minor Threat emblem as MacKaye’s cueball haircut). Because these sessions were shelved in favor of recordings cut a month later at the same location, one can only assume the band discarded these early tapes because the subsequent versions were even tighter. While that might have been true, the pinch of recklessness evident in these early demos is what makes them special now. While Minor Threat would eventually learn how to separate the contours of its blitzkrieg assault, these early versions of “Seeing Red,” “Minor Threat," and “Straight Edge” present the band’s sound as a magnificent, electrified blur. The band pushes its performance to the very edge and stops just a hair short of total annihilation.