Middle Class
Often credited as one of the very first hardcore bands, Middle Class formed in Orange County in 1977 and played faster, shorter songs than anyone else. Their Out of Vogue EP, released in 1978, predates most of what we call hardcore—raw, aggressive, faster than the Ramones. Middle Class proved hardcore wasn't invented in one place or by one band—it was a simultaneous combustion across Southern California. They split in 1982, their output small but their influence immense. Bands like Black Flag and Circle Jerks acknowledged Middle Class as pioneers. They were the band that proved punk could go faster, harder, shorter. Out of Vogue remains a document of that moment when punk mutated into something more aggressive, a bridge between '77 punk and '80s hardcore.