•
Rating: I had decided not to buy any damn record anymore. It seemed to be working... it seemed like a good remedy for know-it-all-ism, and then I had decided that I would dedicate May entirely to revisiting the entire Melvins discography in anticipation of the Italian tour (which was canceled). I was having fun... sure, a few exceptions could be made... a bit of Dinosaur Jr has never killed anyone... a '13 Songs' by Fugazi is always welcome... in short, it was going great... until a warm afternoon.
I went downstairs to buy a gift for a friend (a live DVD by De Gregori), I entered the damned record store. I took a look... checked a bit to see what was there and, more importantly, what wasn't there. I got to the indie section letter M and what do I find?
Minor Threat "First Demo Tape" for 5 euros... I mean, I can't let it slip away... it has to be mine... these songs aren't all on the complete discography... Minor Threat is Minor Threat... Ian MacKaye is Ian MacKaye... okay, I'll take it with the consequent destruction of all my good intentions. Oh well.
The EP (8 songs in 9 songs... how wonderful is hardcore) was recorded four months after the band's formation at the usual Inner Ear Studio and features the noted lineup (MacKaye, Preslar, Baker, Nelson) with the addition of Henry Garfield (better known as Henry Rollins) on backing vocals, which, by the way, you can't hear at all... but the pictures inside the record prove me otherwise.
After the recording, the band decided not to release this record as it sounded too slow to them... but are they kidding? I mean, are they serious? I don't think so... it seems powerful, clattering... I mean, full-on Minor Threat style... pure hardcore.
The thing that stands out the most is the mischievous voice, beautiful, hoarse, and with a lazy tone of MacKaye (the personality, in my opinion, the strongest and most destabilizing in the punk/hardcore world... the first to reject punk while being punk... the first to say: "Damn! Hold on a second. Think, people... don't get wasted from morning to night, don't slash yourselves with shards of glass... you are human beings and not idiots, or at least, hopefully not").
Then, what catches my attention is the sound of the guitar (the distortion of the guitar). Much fuller than that of other bands of the time, more fuzzy, more violent. Another noteworthy fact is the drums, which sound exactly halved compared to the punk rhythm... and if they asked Nelson to do a cover of Minor Threat, what would he reach?... half of half?
Anyway, the setlist is this:
1. Minor Threat
2. Stand Up
3. Seeing Red
4. Bottled Violence
5. Small Man, Big Mouth
6. Straight Edge
7. Guilty of Being White
8. I Don't Want to Hear It
ENJOY!!!
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Minor Threat (01:36)
We're not the first, hope we're not the last
Cause I know we're all heading for that adult crash
The time is so little, the time belongs to us
Why is everybody in such a fucking rush
Make do with what you have
Take what you can get
Pay no mind to us
We're just a minor threat
We're just a minor threat
We're just a minor threat
We're just a minor threat
We're just a minor threat
I was early to finish, I was late to start
I might be an adult, I'm a minor at heart
Go to college, be a man, what's the fucking deal
It's not how old I am, it's how old I feel
Take your time
Try not to forget
We never will
We're just a minor threat
We're just a minor threat
We're just a minor threat
We're just a minor threat
We're just a minor threat
That's a promise
02 Stand Up (00:49)
Something's fucked up
Something's not right
I came to have a good time
You came to fight
But if I do fight
Nothing to fear
'Cause I know
My friends are here
I don't like to fight
I don't like getting hurt
Got my guard up
State of Alert!
I don't look for trouble
Trouble finds me
Need my friends
In an emergency
Don't go out alone
Go with a friend
You might need him
In the end
Stand up!
Stand up!
Stand up!
Stand up!
And be counted!
03 Seeing Red (01:02)
You see me and you laugh out loud
Taunt me from safe inside your crowd
My looks they must threaten you
To make you act the way you do
Red, I'm seeing red!
You see me and you think I'm a jerk
First impressions without a word
You can't believe your eyes at first
But now you know you've seen the worst
Red, I'm seeing red!
04 Bottled Violence (00:56)
Get your bravery from a six pack
Get your bravery from a half-pint
Drink your whiskey, drink your grain
Bottoms up, and you don't feel pain
Go out and fight, fight!
Bottled violence!
Lose control of your body
Beat the shit out of somebody
Half-shut eyes don't see who you hit
You don't take any shit!
Go out and fight, fight!
Bottled Violence!
05 Small Man, Big Mouth (00:59)
Compete, compete, do it for the boys
Empty barrels make the most noise
You're always on the move
You've always got something to prove
What the fuck are you fighting for?
Is it because you're five foot four?
You better be happy with what you got
You'll never get anymore!
You laugh at a man when he tries
You're trying to make up for your size
To you life is a rivalry
Keep a step ahead of me
What the fuck are you fighting for?
Is it because you're five foot four?
You better be happy with what you got
You'll never get anymore!
Small man, Big Mouth!
06 Straight Edge (00:48)
I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and fuck my head
Hang out with the living dead
Snort white shit up my nose
Pass out at the shows
I don't even think about speed
That's just something I don't need
I've got the straight edge
I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and smoke dope
'Cause I know that I can cope
Laugh at the thought at eating ludes
Laugh at the the thought of sniffing glue
Always gonna keep in touch
Never gonna use a crutch
I've got the straight edge!
07 Guilty of Being White (01:18)
I'm sorry
For something I didn't do
Lynched somebody
But I don't know who
You blame me for slavery
A hundred years before I was born
GUILTY OF BEING WHITE
I'm a convict
(guilty)Of a racist crime
(guilty)I've only served
(guilty)19 years of my time
GUILTY OF BEING WHITE
Loading comments slowly
