Teen Idles

The Teen Idles were an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C. in August 1979. Teenagers Nathan Strejcek, Geordie Grindle, Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson were the band’s continual members. Their recorded output consists of two demo sessions and one EP—1981’s Minor Disturbance—released prior to their breakup in November 1980. The Teen Idles were the first band to be signed to the influential independent record label Dischord Records. They were an early landmark in both the straight edge and D.C. hardcore movements, while MacKaye and Nelson would later form the seminal punk outfit Minor Threat.

The Teen Idles were among the first punk rock groups from the early 1980s hardcore movement to break out of their regional scene to tour and sell nationally.[1] Inspired by other American punk bands like The Cramps, Bad Brains and Black Flag, The Teen Idles’ music was an early version of hardcore punk, and an attempt, in the words of MacKaye, «to get away from a really corrupted music».[2] Their appearances, lyrics and musical style sought to revive a punk movement that they believed had lost its original zeal.