At a glance
- Artist
- Minor Threat
- Released
- 1983
- Label
- Dischord Records
- Catalogue number
- Dischord 10
- Format
- 12″ Vinyl
- Country
- UK
- Tracks
- 9, 21:36
In the issue
Released in 1983 with bassist Steve Hansgen, who had joined the band in the summer of 1982, Out of Step was Minor Threat's last release before the posthumous Salad Days EP. The record expanded straight edge into the blunter mantra "Don't smoke / Don't drink / Don't fuck."
How it was made
Out of Step was recorded in multiple sessions at Inner Ear between 1981 and 1983, reflecting Minor Threat's evolution and internal tensions. The album's title track had appeared on the first EP, but for the full-length version, the band re-recorded it with a crucial addition: MacKaye's spoken-word disclaimer insisting that straight edge was 'not a set of rules' and 'I'm not telling you what to do.' The addition addressed criticisms that MacKaye was being preachy and dogmatic. It also reflected his genuine concern that straight edge was hardening into orthodoxy. The recording sessions captured Minor Threat at their musical peak—tighter and more sophisticated than their earliest work but still ferociously direct. 'Betray' and 'Look Back and Laugh' confronted scene politics and personal relationships with uncomfortable honesty. The album was released in April 1983, months before the band broke up. Its packaging included essays and lyrics that made clear Minor Threat's intellectual engagement with their music—this wasn't just noise, it was confrontation with society and scene alike, carefully considered.
Listen
Track list
- A1Betray3:04
- A2It Follows1:50
- A3Think Again2:18
- A4Look Back and Laugh3:16
- B1Sob Story1:50
- B2No Reason1:57
- B3Little Friend2:18
- B4Out of Step1:20
- B5Cashing In3:43
The label
Founded with roughly $600 in Teen Idles earnings, Dischord released the scene's foundational records, starting with the hand-assembled Minor Disturbance EP and continuing through Minor Threat, Flex Your Head, and Fugazi's catalog. Its DIY methods, cheap ticket and record prices, and refusal to sign with major labels set the ethical template that DC hardcore and its later offshoots operated by.