released on a bootleg release named 7 Seconds - Hardcore Rules, 80-82. They also appeared on the 1985 hardcore compilation Cleanse the Bacteria, in addition to numerous other compilations, such as Not So Quiet On the Western Front (Alt. Tentacles, 1982), Something to Believe In (BYO, 1984), Party or Go Home/We Got Power (Mystic, 1983), and Nuke Your Dink (Positive Force, 1984). They became closely associated with the Straight Edge movement and helped start the Youth Crew movement in 1984 with The Crew.

Their first full-length album, The Crew, was recorded in 1983-84 and released by BYO Records, as was its successor - the classic hardcore EP Walk Together Rock Together. With the New Wind album, the band dramatically expanded its sound and style with audible elements of a sometimes quieter, slower, more melodic and accessible sound. Many writers have credited this particular period of 7 Seconds' career as being highly influential on many pop punk and indie rock bands that came along much later.

Subsequent LPs moved deeper into mainstream territory with a U2-like sound. The 7 Seconds album continued their musical experimentation. The band broke free in 1995 with The Music, The Message, moving back somewhat into their roots. The Music, The Message was released on Sony (BMI), the first release on a major label throughout the band's history. Earlier material was on various homegrown labels, completely self-produced, or put out on Kevin Seconds own label, Positive Force Records (AKA United Front), before BYO Records housed them. However, the band returned to an old-school hardcore sound in 1999 with the Good to Go album. 2005 came the release of Take It Back, Take It On, Take It Over! on SideOneDummy, completing the evolution back to their Hardcore roots.

7 Seconds is believed to be the first band to refer to themselves primarily as hardcore. After their first show, they described their band as hardcore new wave. Vocalist Kevin Seconds has gone on to have a lengthy solo career, becoming an important folk punk singer too, doing releases with people including Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio and Mike Scott of Lay It on the Line (band). Dim Menace's fist-brandishing scowl on the cover of the Skins, Brains, & Guts EP is one of the most iconic images in hardcore. Sacramento News & Review speaks at length of their influence in the positive hardcore movement and their positive effect on the punk culture.