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Rating: The Teen Idles. The first true band of DCcore (OK, if we want to be nitpicky, the first seeds were sown by Black Market Baby and Bad Brains, who inspired our guys to pick up instruments, but it’s certain that the hardcore universe of District Columbia wouldn’t have been the same without them), a great lineup composed of Nathan Streijek (vocals), Geordie Grindle (guitar), Ian MacKaye (bass), and Jeff Nelson (drums), four students who, barely seventeen, began playing at a crazy speed across the venues of Washington and its surroundings, even embarking on an unfortunate tour in California.
Theirs is a very brief epic, lasting from the summer of 1979 to the winter of 1980. At the end of which the young MacKaye decides that his band cannot disappear into nothingness. He then decides to gather the old recorded tapes and, with a bit of effort, releases the EP “Minor Disturbance,” eight insanely fast and furious tracks that are also the first piece of vinyl published by Dischord Records.
The sound quality is terrible, but the (master)work becomes legendary. Thus, for the label's 100th release, this “Anniversary” is published, a six-track EP totaling nine minutes in which the audio quality is significantly improved. It also includes a couple of unreleased tracks like the initial proto-surf instrumental “Adventure” and “Trans Am.” Streijek’s voice is powerful and bold, the sonic base pumps out noise that is no longer punk but not yet distinctly hardcore, it’s chaos, as demonstrated by the medley “Fiorucci Nightmare/Getting In My Way.” Classics of incredible power and relevance even today, that will "build" the Washington punk scene, not only inspiring local youth to form bands but also becoming the launching pad for Minor Threat (with Ian and Jeff) and Youth Brigade (with Nathan), other local legends.
Recover it.
Tracklist and Lyrics
02 Teen Idles (00:00)
Life has been the same for a long time
Go to scholl and witness the crimes
Go home and see it on the evening news
Then we got nothing to do
If there were a concert we would go
Usually end up watching the prime time shows
Hours in front of a t.v. set
We're as idle as teens can get
Teen Idles, Teen Idles
Fuckin' bored to tears
Teen Idles, Teen Idles
Waste of 20 Years
Teen Idles, Teen Idles
Doin' nothing all day
Teen Idles, Teen Idles
Nothing to do anyway
Hanging out at the record shops
Go to a concert the boredom stops
Went to the Bavou they said "no"
You're not 18 you can't see the show
Went to a movie it was o.k.
Don't want to do it everyday
Hours in front of a t.v. set
We're as idle as teens can get
03 Sneakers (00:00)
You're sixteen going on thirty-two
Confusion of age surrounding you
Cigarette dangles from your painted lips
You wear the shoe because it fits
Put on your sneakers and be a kid
Why don't you try and have some fun
Put on your sneakers and be a kid
You're not fooling anyone
Why you wanna grow so old, so fast
Let your teenage ignorance last
Put away all those rings and chains
Come back and enjoy the growing pains
When I saw you the other day
You saw me but turned away
Why didn'y you acknowledge me
Was it cause your date was thirty-three
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