recording a demo

Filling part of the void left by Minor Threat’s hiatus, the Faith quickly became one of the most popular bands in D.C. After recording a demo in December 1981, the band released a split LP with fellow D.C. hardcore band, Void . It was released by Dischord Records, a local independent label founded by MacKaye’s elder brother Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson of Minor Threat. The first pressing of the record sold out in two weeks. It featured the song “You’re X’d”, which addressed the straight edge philosophy popularized by Minor Threat and S.O.A. And at the same time it was a strong critic to the people that did not take the straight edge movement seriously and only pretended to follow it in order to sympathise with other people. The Faith members stated that they felt rather frustrated and angry because “people tend to compare the two sides of the record which is sort of dumb, we would have reviewed it as two separate bands—not comparing—instead of saying ‘Oh, Void is so crazy and the Faith is just boring typical hardcore’.” “Our approaches to music were so different that there isn’t much point in comparing the two sides…they are never close enough to compare, only to contrast and to complement.”