Flex Your Head is a sampler album featuring early hardcore punk bands from the Washington, D.C., area.Curd, Zach. "Flex Your Head: AllMusic Review by Zach Curd". AllMusic. Retrieved April 20, 2016. It was originally released in January 1982 on Dischord Records, with a pressing of 4,000 copies on vinyl record that sold out within one week;Azerrad, Michael (Little, Brown and Company, 2001). Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Rock Underground 1981-1991. First e-book ed., 2012. Hachette. . pp. 340-341. an additional 3,000 copies were released shortly after. In 1982, a third pressing of 2,000 copies was released under license in the United Kingdom by Alternative Tentacles.Azerrad, Michael (Little, Brown and Company, 2001). Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Rock Underground 1981-1991. First e-book ed., 2012. Hachette. . p. 376. Each of the first three pressings featured a different front cover.

Background The compilation takes its title from the Minor Threat lyric shouted in the song "12XU", included on the album, originally by the English band Wire.

Dischord assembled Flex Your Head as a way to record the many punk bands that had started up, and sometimes also ceased, in the previous years in the D.C. area. The album served as either a debut or sophomore release for every band on it except Minor Threat, for whom it was their third.

At the time of the album's release not only had most of the bands on it already have broken up, but many had gone on to start other bands, some of those bands also appear on the album. The Teen Idles had broken up in late 1980 and by the time of the release of Flex Your Head members had already started Minor Threat and Youth Brigade. The Untouchables broke up in 1981 and with the former members joining a multitude of bands including The Faith, The Warmers, Rites of Spring, One Last Wish, Skewbald, Happy Go Licky, Youth Brigade, and The Meatmen. State of Alert had also folded in early 1981 as singer Henry Garfield had joined Black Flag. Minor Threat had disbanded (although they would reunite a few months after the album's release) and since then Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson had founded Skewbald while Lyle Preslar joined an early version of Big Black. Youth Brigade and Red C both existed solely during 1981, and both Artificial Peace and Deadline would break up within a few months of the release of Flex Your Head, aside from Youth Brigade these band's only recorded output is on the compilation, though from those bands would come the longer lasting Beefeater, Marginal Man and Fugazi. Only Government Issue and Iron Cross would survive past the next year.

The songs "12XU" and "Steppin' Stone" were extremely popular covers in the D.C. punk scene. "Steppin' Stone", which was performed by State of Alert on this album, was also covered by Minor Threat on their second EP In My Eyes, while the song "12XU" was so commonly covered that several shows would have multiple bands playing their renditions.

Recording Flex Your Head was recorded between April 1980 and December 1981. The Teen Idles, Untouchables,Blush, Steven (2001). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Second ed., 2010. Feral House. . p. 164. and Red C songs were recorded at Hit and Run Studios with engineer Steve Carr, Iron Cross' tracks were recorded at C.A.B. Studios with engineer Tom Scott, while all the other songs were recorded at Inner Ear Studios with engineer Don Zientara.Flex Your Head. Dischord Records. Retrieved April 20, 2016.

Cover art While the back cover of Flex Your Head has remained almost the same, its front cover has changed throughout the years. When the album was first released, featured a stock photography of a painting of a violin, roses, and sheet music. The second pressing, released almost immediately, came with a stock image of stalks of wheat. A third early cover, designed by Jeff Nelson and used for the British pressing of the album, displayed a black and white version of the flag of Washington, D.C., with the stars replaced by Xs. Later, in 1985, the record was re-released with a new cover featuring a blurry photo of a man in a hat, which was used until 2008. The most recent version, a variation in red and white of the D.C. flag cover from 1982, came in 2010 on a remastered LP re-release.

The CD editions of the album came with all versions of the front cover to be used interchangeably.

Critical reception Justin M. Norton, contributor at the online magazine Stereogum, was of the view that:

Reissues Flex Your Head was re-released on CD in August 1993.

A remastered CD version was released in 2002.

Track listing

Personnel

The Teen Idles Nathan Strejcek – vocals Geordie Grindle – guitar Ian MacKaye – bass Jeff Nelson – drums

Untouchables Alec MacKaye – vocals Eddie Janney – guitar Bert Queiroz – bass Rich Moore – drums

State of Alert Henry Garfield − vocals Michael Hampton − guitar Wendel Blow − bass Simon Jacobsen − drums

Minor Threat Ian MacKaye – vocals Lyle Preslar – guitar Brian Baker – bass Jeff Nelson – drums

Government Issue John Stabb – vocals John Barry – guitar Brian Gay – bass Marc Alberstadt – drums

Youth Brigade Nathan Strejcek – vocals Tom Clinton – guitar Bert Queiroz – bass Danny Ingram – drums

Red C Eric L. – vocals Pete Murray – guitar Toni Young – bass Tomas Squip – drums

Void John Weiffenbach – vocals Bubba Dupree – guitar Chris Stover – bass Sean Finnegan – drums

Iron Cross Sab Grey – vocals Mark Haggerty – guitar Wendle Blow – bass Dante Ferrando – drums

Artificial Peace Steve Polcari – vocals Pete Murray – guitar Rob Moss – bass Mike Manos – drums

Deadline Ray Hare – vocals Christian Caron – guitar Terry Scanlon – bass Brendan Canty – drums

Notes

References

Further reading Blush, Steven (2001). "Minor Threat & DC: Flex Your Head". American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Second ed., 2010. Feral House. . pp. 149–176. Hurchalla, George (Zuo Press, 2005). "Wild in the Streets". Going Underground: American Punk 1979–1989. Second ed., 2016. Oakland: PM Press. . pp. 105–111.

External links Flex Your Head. Dischord Records. Norton, Justin M. (October 17, 2012). "13 Essential DC Hardcore Albums: Various Artists - Flex Your Head (Dischord, 1982)". Stereogum. Flex Your Head. Discogs.