Punk Hardcore Oi! New Wave Post-Punk

HOME	BANDS INDEX	COMPILATIONS	LABELS	INTERVIEWS	CREDITS	UPDATES	ARCHIVE	LINKS	CONTACT

The Middle Class - MIDDLE CLASS

Formed: Santa Ana, California, USA

The Middle Class - Punk 1982

Middle Class have gone down in history as the band that recorded the first hardcore record. The Out Of Vogue E.P., released in 1978, knocked spots off Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown single in terms of sheer speed and had - without a shadow of doubt - the fastest song released thus far: the title track is an amazing amphetamine blast of monotonous guitar noise that still exhilarates, lyrics rendered incomprehensible by the velocity. Others claim Bad Brains' Pay To Cum was the first hardcore record, but although the Bad Brains single was superior and had greater influence, I'd say this is definitely where it all kicked off.

Unfortunately, the band's move away from hardcore was swift and by the time of Scavenged Luxury they were reallly starting to mellow. This was partially down to the fallout from the Elks Lodge Riot in March 1979, a notorious chapter in L.A. punk history, where the cops raided the place and used the punks as punch bags. Jeff Atta was one of the cops' victims, and after this incident they all decided a change of style and pace was required. Their first and last LP Homeland showed they were well-and-truly in the same post-punk territory as Joy Division, Echo And The Bunnymen, Gang of Four etc. Not much fun.

According to Wikipedia: "In the mid-1980s the Atta brothers briefly formed a band with former Bags vocalist Alice Bag, the Cambridge Apostles. Bassist Mike Patton went on to produce the Adolescents' first album, guitarist Mike Atta now owns and operates a vintage furniture and clothing shop in Fullerton, California called "Out Of Vogue," Jeff Atta runs an art gallery next door, and drummer Bruce Atta went on to UCLA to major in Philosophy and now teaches philosophy at Cal State University at Los Angeles. Middle Class reunited in 2010 and played sold out shows in Los Angeles in 2010 and 2011."

LINEUP 1 (1977-1980):

Jeff Atta - vocals
Mike Atta - guitar
Mike Patton - bass
Bruce Atta - drums

LINEUP 2 (1982):

Jeff Atta - vocals, synth
Mike Atta - guitar
Mike Patton - bass
Matt Simon - drums

DISCOGRAPHY

Singles / Albums


Out Of Vogue (7", 1978)	Scavenged Luxury (7", 1980)	Homeland (LP, 1982)
Extraneous Releases

A Blueprint For Joy 1978-1980 (CD, 1995)	Out Of Vogue - The Early Material (LP/CD, 2008)
Bootlegs

You Dug Your Own Grave Now Die In It! (7", 1996)	1978-1979 (7", 2002)	Out Of Vogue - Discography Album 1978-1980 (CD, 2002)	Out Of Vogue - The Hardcore Years 1978-1980 (CD, 2004)