Dischord 1981: The Year in Seven Inches

Personnel: Nathan Strejcek, Ian MacKaye, Henry Garfield, John Stabb (vocals); Mike Hampton , Geordie Grindle, Lyle Preslar (guitar); Jeff Nelson (drums).
Audio Mixer: Skip Groff.
Liner Note Author: Jeff Nelson.
Recording information: Inner Ear Studios (12/1980-07/1981).
Photographers: Jay Rabinowitz; Susie Josephson.
Dischord 1981: The Year in Seven Inches tells the story of the origins of the one of the first hardcore punk labels and the early D.C. hardcore scene. When the Teen Idles had no one to release their posthumous record, Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson took $600 in the band's gig money and made it themselves. Like every band on this album, the Teen Idles were meagerly recorded on a four-track, giving them a raw sound that came to characterize the early hardcore scene. The album kicks off with "Teen Idles," a 44-second anthem that ends with the memorable line "We're as idle as teens can get." Debuts of four other D.C. bands follow. A young Henry Garfield (later known as Henry Rollins) is heard chanting with S.O.A. (State of Alert). With the breakup of the Teen Idles, Nelson and MacKaye went onto form Minor Threat, whose classics "Straight Edge" and "Minor Threat" appear along with "In My Eyes" and "Out of Step" from its second EP. The hard-driving, super-fast songs of Government Issue and Youth Brigade bring the record's total to 48 tracks, all for eight bucks. ~ Ron DePasquale