From allmusic.com:

During their incredibly short lifespan, Washington D.C. post-hardcore unit Rites of Spring rose up as one of the first emo bands, setting the framework for decades of evolution in punk culture.

Lead singer Guy Picciotto and drummer Brendan Canty would join forces with Ian MacKaye to form Fugazi and even further expand the musical boundaries of bands rooted in punk subcultures, but for a handful of months before that, Rites of Spring burnt dazzlingly bright and incredibly fast.

The band is said to have only played 15 live shows, total, and their entire studio output before the release of this 1984 demo tape was limited to just one album and one single. The six songs on this demo were cut at the same studio as the rest of their material, Dischord's Inner Ear Studios, before the band even performed in front of an audience.