Often cited as one of the earliest emo outfits, Dan Littleton, Erik Fisher, Colin Meeder, and Mike Bonner formed The Hated in Annapolis, MD. Their 1985 nine-song debut album ‘The Best Piece Of Shit Vol. 3’ featured The Hated’s first true moment of brilliance in “Words Come Back”—a stinging indictment of their hometown’s Nam shrapnel and racist undercurrent set to a near-blast beat. Five hundred copies of the cassette were circulated around the greater Chesapeake area, and a legend was born. In 1986, new members John Irvine and Kenny Hill replaced Meeder and Bonner. Bursting with songs and refined political rage, this new Hated rehearsed tirelessly for a week straight and then piled into Les Lentz’s LSP Studios. The result was their post-hardcore masterpiece, ‘What Was Behind.’ Meeder returned to record The Hated’s third LP, ‘Every Song,’ in 1989. The band’s final farewell, ‘Awl,’ features all of their tracks recorded between summer 1985 and winter 1987-88 at LSP Studios (except “Every Song,” which was recorded in Dan Powell’s basement). Though brief, The Hated’s career is distinguished by an ability to meld disparate genres, from punk to emo to folk. Even today, their agitprops echo in the minds and on the stages of young punk rock adherents.