In 1981, Henry Rollins became one of the most visible figures in hardcore when he signed on as the iron-throated and wildly intense lead singer for Black Flag, appearing on their first full-length album, Damaged. But while Rollins seemed to have dropped out of nowhere into one of punk's most celebrated and polarizing acts, for nine months, when he was still using his given name Henry Garfield, he was the leader and frontman of Washington D.C.'s S.O.A. (State of Alert), who were part of the same D.C. hardcore scene as Minor Threat, the Bad Brains, and Void. Not long after they played their first show, S.O.A. cut an eight-song demo tape, and this document of the band's earliest days has been given its first authorized release by Dischord. While three of the tracks on this demo have surfaced before -- "Gonna Have to Fight" appeared on the group's EP No Policy and two covers, "Disease" and "Stepping Stone Party," were on the iconic D.C. comp Flex Your Head -- the other five are unique to this release, and they capture a band still finding its feet. Most of First Demo sounds like standard-issue hardcore of the era (in classic fashion, it packs eight songs into eight minutes), energetic but not especially remarkable, with plenty of mega-downstroke guitar from Michael Hampton and speedy almost-polka drumming from Simon Jacobsen. And while Henry already knew how to spit fire as a vocalist, these songs don't give him a chance to do much more than bark about violence, easily the group's favorite theme. S.O.A. weren't a great hardcore band, though judging from this they were a pretty good one, especially since they were only a few weeks away from their first gig when they recorded this, and their energy and force are truly impressive. But Garfield/Rollins had already developed a bit more nuance by the time he joined Black Flag, and other members would also live up to their potential elsewhere (Hampton would later join the Faith and Embrace, while bassist Wendell Blow played with Iron Cross and Lethal Intent). D.C. hardcore completists and folks interested in Henry Rollins' first baby steps in punk rock will want to have this historical document, but while it packs some kicks, don't expect to be enlightened.