Austin, TX · hardcore punk

M.D.C.

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American hardcore's most reliably furious political band, name changing with each record — Millions of Dead Cops onward, rage undimmed.

M.D.C. began in Austin, Texas as The Stains, playing their first show in August 1980 and releasing one single under that name in 1981. They were one of three pioneering hardcore bands to come out of Austin at the time, alongside the Dicks and Big Boys, and the three groups played together often as the local scene took shape.

The band moved to San Francisco in 1982, renamed themselves M.D.C. and became one of the more openly political groups in the first wave of American hardcore punk, fronted by vocalist Dave Dictor. Their debut LP, released under the name Millions of Dead Cops on their own label with distribution help from Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles, is now considered a genre classic.

Dictor's lyrics took aim at policing, capitalism, homophobia and American culture on songs like "I Remember," "Corporate Death Burger" and "America's So Straight," the last of which made the band an early reference point for queercore given Dictor's own openness about his sexuality. A tour alongside the Dead Kennedys in 1982 spread their reputation through Europe.

The band has since changed what the initials stand for from record to record, holding to fast tempos, short songs and shouted vocals throughout. Dictor also wrote for the fanzine Maximum Rocknroll in the 1990s. M.D.C.'s original run ended in 1995; after a five-year hiatus, the band returned in 2000 with new members and has continued to perform and record since.

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hardcore punk