Secret History profiles classic D.C. albums as a way of looking back at the District’s contributions to music over time. This time around, we zero in on The Warmers’ bracing self-titled debut (Dischord, 1996).

The hardcore punk scene that flourished in D.C. in the 1980s served as a powerful incubator for good ideas and good bands. The energy, sense of community and abundance of all-ages venues provided a rock solid foundation for the creative process, making it possible for loads of bright, motivated kids to pick up instruments, write songs and make their noise heard.

As a result of that ’80s hardcore environment, an abundance of post-hardcore and indie rock outfits emerged in the District in the ’90s, often manned by veterans of the previous decade’s punk scene; folks who embraced hardcore’s energy and DIY attitude while pushing beyond the genre’s stylistic boundaries and constraints.

By the time the ’90s rolled around, Alec MacKaye was already a fixture on the District’s musical landscape. He’d spent time as a singer in The Untouchables, The Faith and Ignition: bands that helped define the “D.C. sound” (loud, fast, subversively catchy, politically aware) and, in turn, spawned legendary acts like Embrace, Rites of Spring, Happy Go Licky and Circus Lupus. MacKaye had gotten in on the ground floor of the D.C. punk movement, and his bona fides were squarely in place.