Middle Class were an American punk band established in 1976 in Santa Ana, California. The band consisted of Jeff Atta on vocals, Mike Atta on lead guitar, Mike Patton on bass, and Bruce Atta on drums. The band achieved only local success, but has achieved slightly more success in recent years, enough to be included in the hardcore punk documentary American Hardcore in 2006. The band's most popular release was the Out of Vogue EP, released in 1978, particularly known for the titular song "Out of Vogue".

It is still unclear whether Black Flag (who were known as Panic at the time) were the first band to play hardcore punk or whether Middle Class were, or whether either band originally began with playing hardcore. After a show, the band was approached by a young spectator, who claimed to also have a "fast punk rock" band (since the term "hardcore" was not popularized until 1981 by D.O.A.), as mentioned in American Hardcore. The young fan turned out to be Keith Morris of Black Flag, giving further question to which band was first to play hardcore.

Their sound evolved from being a blistering, shouted, arty version of punk which would be extremely influential to the "modern hardcore" sound that would emerge in Minor Threat's records following their first release, the 1978 Out of Vogue 7". This record featured the title track along with three other songs. After this they released the Scavenged Luxury 7" in 1980 which retained the assault of the first record while introducing the influence of UK bands Gang of Four and Joy Division. 1982 saw the release of their first full length album, the dark Homeland. Their first seven inches were re-released on the compilation album Blueprint For Joy along with several live tracks and songs they contributed to the Tooth and Nail compilation.

In the mid-1980s Mike and Bruce Atta briefly formed a soul/dance band with former The Bags vocalist Alice Bag called the Cambridge Apostles. Bassist Mike Patton went on to produce The Adolescents' first album, guitarist Mike Atta now owns and operates a vintage furniture shop in Fullerton, California called "Out Of Vogue", and drummer Bruce Atta went on to UCLA to major in Philosophy and now teaches Philosophy at Cal State University at Los Angeles.

On November 7th, 2010, The Middle Class reunited to play a one-off concert (their first in almost thirty years) for the Frontier Records 30th Anniversary Party along with The Adolescents, TSOL, The Avengers, and other punk rock bands.


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