Buys & Receipt: Minor Threat’s Out Of Step Outtakes
I’ll be honest, the double-groove tripped me up.
Minor Threat was inactive for a brief period until they reformed in 1982 as a five-piece. Following his return to the band after college, Lyle Preslar resumed his position as guitarist. Brian Baker moved to second guitar and bass duties were handed to Steve Hansgen. The newly released Out Of Step Outtakes 7” features unearthed recordings of this iteration of the band performing already released tracks “Filler”, “In My Eyes”, and the eventual outro of “Cashing In”, which is titled “Addams Family”. Since Out Of Step recently celebrated 40 years, the Outtakes 7” is offered as tribute.
It’s been noted that “Out Of Step”, which had already been released on the In My Eyes EP in ‘81, had been misconstrued by fans as Straight Edge doctrine, leaving vocalist Ian MacKaye to be viewed as proselytizing from the stage. In an effort to fix listener error, MacKaye decided to re-record the track with adjusted lyrics so it would be better understood that his choice to not drink, smoke, or fuck was his alone and that he wasn’t interested in telling people how to live.
Hidden on the B-side, is a cut groove that runs alongside the musical recordings featuring Ian and drummer Jeff Nelson arguing about the revised “Out Of Step”. Engineer Don Zientara had recorded the disagreement, which takes up the entire B-side of the 7”. Since I wanted to go into this 7” spoiler-free, happy to experience via stereo without preview, I wasn’t aware that the B-side was built as a double-groove: one set dedicated to songs, the other to this back-and-forth between the band, which was what I heard upon first needle drop. I was really confused, but I eventually figured it out. It’s a cool feature of the release.
In terms of the music, I think I like this five-piece version of “In My Eyes” more than the actual song. The dual-guitar onslaught makes the track sound less splintery and abrasive than the original. Plus, I like Hansgen’s bass tone.
Sincerely,
Letters From A Tapehead
