Fugazi: C or D?

(the song, spock, is "margin walker.")

These days the term "emo" is like the Blob/Borg, threatening to absord everything in its path: "I really like emo, you know, like the Beatles and Moby."

No, sir, I don't like it one bit.

I think it's the only genre term I've ever seen change completely over the course of 4-5 years. I suppose that can be blamed, in part, on the people making it -- the term started with just-post-hardcore bands like Cap'N Jazz and would up stuck on bashy- poppy-punk bands like the Promise Ring (members of Cap'N Jazz). Regardless, any term variously applied to refer to Mineral, Karate, and the Get-Up Kids is beginning to lack meaning.

But so the question now is: with the Cap'N Jazz guys reforming as the Owls, will "emo" go back to being what it was, leaving the Get-Up Kids as just "crap?" Or will the Owls play funk, leading us to start referring to Parliament as "emo?"

Emo: supposed to have started with Rites of Spring is my understanding, who led to Fugazi. Now the term is meaningless, for reasons laid out expertly by Nitsuh.

North of America: not emo at all. Math rock, pure math rock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guvwUUCvsKs&feature=share

^^Not showing up for me. What is it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guvwUUCvsKs

I love how Albini said for years that Fugazi was one of the few bands he respected so much he'd record them for free. And then he recorded them and they didn't use it.

Hmm. I can sorta see why they scrapped this, but I say that as someone very, very familiar with IOTKT as it was released

But none of these versions are better than the album versions

(see also: First Demo. How many times have you listened to that one since you bought it?)

Ian Mackaye of Fugazi/Minor Threat/ Dischord Records at the #JuggaloMarch pic.twitter.com/acrebJ4zCd

— #retiredpunk (@NickKarpPhotos) September 17, 2017

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0002/018/MI0002018821.jpg

Saw that! Watched Brendan Canty playing drums with Lizzi from GangGang Dance & guitarist Dana Vorhees at the Hirshhorn Museum Yoko Ono tribute. Canty & Joe Lally will be backing Daniel Johnston on his upcoming DC gig.

Koolest Wizards jumbotron screengrab of all time? pic.twitter.com/XV6Xt4R8D1

— Chris _ _ Richards (@Chris__Richards) November 10, 2017

Also, had no idea Lally and Canty were in a new band together.

(With Anthony Pirog)

& Rites of Spring really surprised me

Welp, that rules.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0nFZe_e-qc

new canty/lally/pirog track

Another track here https://themessthetics.bandcamp.com/track/serpent-tongue

Messthetics album release is March 23. Brendan Canty is also gonna be busy touring with MC5 50th anniversary group with Wayne Kramer and others

End hits fucking rules

^otm

all fugazi albums rule

Steady Diet of Nothing doesn't imo but that's about it

No, that one rules, too. A lot.

Steady Diet a lot better than End Hits - the former a much better showcase for the rhythm section, which is the band's strongest point.

(what I mean is the instrumental-side of Fugazi is better in the context of short, tightly wound interplay where the bass/drums are at the forefront - 'jammy' Fugazi isn't the best Fugazi IMO)

i'd call red medicine jammy, end hits i guess is playing-wise but towards much more frictive ends? anyway that era is my favorite of theirs, i think the rhythm section gets plenty of shine and the compositions especially on end hits hit a great balance of punch and spaciousness (both of which iirc steady diet lacks a bit i comparison to their other records variously, though it still rules)

the argument hits that balance the most smoothly and so might be their best (it's a good record to end on as it ties together strands of their previous modes to creates its own). i listen to it less though bc i love their jammy mode

There is a case to be made that The Argument=Red Medicine/End Hits. End Hits is the one I listen to the least, for no good reason.

In On The Kill Taker is the band's most aggro album. "Facet Squared" - an awesome rush, but why even bother with lyrics? Blaaaargh!

...and their best, IMO. Probably their loudest album but also more dynamically nuanced than the earlier stuff. Plus "Sweet and Low" (an example of why I'm iffy about the longer, later material - they perfected the "this is a Fugazi instrumental" here)

"Facet Squared" - an awesome rush, but why even bother with lyrics? Blaaaargh!

ah but Facet Squared includes one of my absolute favourite Ian lines - "We draw lines and we stand behind them / That's why flags are such ugly things"

I love the lyrics to Facet Squared. 'Cool's eternal but it's always dated' has the ring of a stolen revealed truth.

Yeah, but did you catch any of those lyrics without a lyrics sheet?

Steady Diet is the one that most consistently slays from beginning to end imo. Maybe others have higher highs but it's still my favorite to play in the car.

xp "Irony is the refuge of the educated" was a line ahead of its time imo

That and "I hate the sound of guitars" are the fugazi lyrics I think about most

Messthetics LP is awesome, gotta check out more music by this Anthony Pirog guy

Good podcast interview w/Ian about some of the music that mattered to him: http://wypr.org/post/essential-tremors-ian-mackaye

Fugazi rules. my first album of theirs was "Red Medicine" and i was shocked it was only $10. soon enough picked up "Repeater" and listened to those two a lot in my first year of college. kept up with them off an on and always enjoyed their stuff. i remember really liking the "Instrument" movie, which was the last thing i heard of them.

i got to see them play a show in early 2000s. it was of course a great show, and they stopped it midway through to throw out somebody in the audience who was being unduly aggressive. as a small person who always had to be cautious around mosh pits at shows, seeing this in action was very much appreciated!

No one wants to discuss this Mesthetics record, huh? Quit living in the past!

Mostly kidding here. But this record is great and should be getting more attention.

Fuck it, I'm starting a thread

I finished the Gross book last night and it was good. He's a good writer and has a good handle on the subject, Fugazi are, in spite of their rep, a kind of catty/funny band, at least when talking about themselves. I liked how he built up a context for the record and then broke down each song.

I think it could have stood one more editorial pass, it is sort of littered with typos which was kind of annoying. And there was the odd weird line, like the Davis/Van Gelder, Dre/Jay-Z one mentioned earlier which I don't think was a mistake exactly as much as a clumsy analogy. There were a couple things like that that could have used a tweak.

Ian Mackaye and Amy Farina (from Evens, husband & wife) did 2 songs unbilled for free at Fort Reno Park in DC last night as part of the 50th anniversary season of free concerts there (bring food, and dogs but no alcohol...7 to 9:45 pm local bands Monday & Thursdays in July and part of August). They started with a Lungfish cover and then went into another song. Lungfish one was kinda dirge-like but melodic(with mostly just Amy singing), second one was more fast-tempoed (more Ian-like) with Ian's guitar louder, and Amy on lead vocals but Ian chiming in as well vocally.

The Messthetics (w/ Brendan and Joe from Fugazi) were at Fort Reno the week before.

The other night during a World Series game at Fenway Park they played part of Fugazi "Waiting Room" as the umps were waiting for a review of a challenged umpire call. The organist there picks the songs and he has played that one before

I'm intrigued by Brixton venues in the mid 90s.
I thought most of the ones i was familiar with from the 80s had closed down before i left london.
Were Fugazi big enough for the Academy.

Fridge and Mule Club both had ceased to be by the turn of the 90s at least hadn't they?

I swam Fugazi at the Academy in, I think '94. Probably my favourite gig.

Saw the Beta Band at the Fridge in, bloody hell, 2001?

Swam! Christ. Saw, obvs.

Supporting Marillion is what I'm seeing listed.
Odd combination?
Though I think they had a song called fugazi or something similar didn't they?

Tell a lie, 1995: https://www.dischord.com/fugazi_live_series/london-england-51395

xp Or not as the case may be, that was Marillion touring their lp of the title.
I guess London is a lot larger than places i lived later so a band like Fugazi might have just been big enough to headline by the mid 90s.
JUst wasn't thinking of them being taht large since the last place I think I saw them was McGonagles. NOt sure fi i saw them again after that which was the first time I went to Dublin.

I'm not entirely sure Fugazi ever opened for anyone.

you might be right!

Fugazi opening for Marillion would have been the greatest gig ever, obv.

Fugazi were big enough to play the Barrowlands in Glasgow as far back as the Repeater tour, there were four bands (including the mighty Dawson) iirc for £6 and that might have helped somewhat.

Yeah Dawson were pretty great. Saw them somewhere around the turn of the 90s, may have been tied in with the Membranes network.

I saw Fugazi at the Brixton Academy in I think 1992, £5 tickets or something like that as they always kept it affordable. Didn't like them as I recall but hey at least it didn't set me back much.

I also saw Marillion at the same venue on the Fugazi tour lol

That Fugazi/Dawson Barrowlands show was £5 (£3 for the unemployed) and also had Silverfish and Chumbawamba on the bill.

Dawson were great that night.

Time in Glasgow before that was the Mayfair with Dawson and the Stretchheads, which is some bill.

I'm not entirely sure Fugazi ever opened for anyone.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, October 27, 2018 3:13 PM (one hour ago)

https://noisey.vice.com/en_au/article/kzz9mx/30-years-ago-fugazi-played-their-first-show-as-a-three-piece

heh, debut gig makes sense for sure

Besides being one of the only times that the DC punk legends opened a show

I wonder what the other ones were?

Their second show (first as a 4-piece) was opening for Kingface:
https://i.imgur.com/I02xydI.jpg

Elderly chapel hill/carrboro punkers may recognize the Slush Puppies as Mac Superchunk's pre-WWAX band.

cool, thanks!

Fridge and Mule Club both had ceased to be by the turn of the 90s at least hadn't they?

Dunno about the Mule Club but the Fridge didn't close til 2010 (although I hadn't been there since 2001), the Electric Brixton is there now but doesn't have any link to the Fridge club. Before the Fridge it was the Brixton Ace (used to have a lot of hardcore/anarcho punk gigs there, Conflict/Exploited/etc)

Mule Club was the one hosted by the avant rock band God in the pub behind the fire station. Can't remember its name.
Was the stageless place that once had a review with one guy having to drag up a chair to stage dive off.
was on every Friday night and had some great bands at.

Canterbury Arms. They used to put shows on at the Queen's Head sometimes as well.

First saw Fugazi at Brixton Academy on the Red Medicine tour. They were amazing, but my overwhelming memory is of watching a guy who was truly shit-faced drunk running into the toilets, slipping and ending up head-first in the urinal, steeped in piss, and thinking, "That's not very straight-edge, is it?"

Fugazi is the band I most regret never seeing live.

A friend saw them once and he got drunk and spent the show making out with an equally drunk woman and felt deep shame about this afterward

got to see them three times but the first time on the Repeater tour was the best, they opened with "Blueprint" and closed with "Glue Man" and god damn they were great.

what's weird is that they are one of my favorite bands of all time, and I think I saw them three times. And yet barely remember any of the shows.

Halfway to a reunion
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/ian-mackaye-amy-farina-joe-lally-apparently-have-a-new-band-playing-first-show-on-sunday/?fbclid=IwAR2RYfOZWTolDWxrUwB4RL0Xmzl4jNf-beViTEbyWHsHXzFAFHnmYmTAksQ

I really want to hear what a Fugazi "Division Bell" type late career record would sound like.

Joe and Brendan already play in that other band, with that skronk jazz guitarist. Let me know when Guy gets back into it and I'll believe they are getting their chops in order.

yeah IDG why they want to waste time with that wanker but won't reunite

I saw the MC50 reunion deal the other night and my friend I was with joked pre-show "I wonder if Brendan will have the bell with him in the kit" and we laughed but sure enough he did and I weirdly got chills. Seeing the bell was basically the best part of the show!

Having said that a Brendan Canty-Billy Gould-Kim Thayil band would be fucking amazing based on that gig though.

When Kramer intro'd the band, the roar in Mpls for Brendan & Fugazi was huge, twice as loud as for Soundgarden, easy.

I don't really want Fugazi to reunite, I would completely go if they did.

Hope they never reunite tbh

I do wish more bands would break up and stay broken up.

Was there not a quote in a fairly recent interview with one of Fugazi along the lines that they get together and play for fun every now and then? I’m all for that, playing music together when they get a chance but without it having to Be Something.

Yeah, they have all said at various times that they get together to jam and what not. I might have posted earlier that I know someone who knows Guy, and he is always teasing Guy about not reuniting Fugazi, and Guy always, maybe with false modesty maybe who knows, claims that no one is really that interested, and if they did it would have to be pretty much all new material, but the amount of effort it would take to drum up all the material and be up to snuff musically might be too much. Having seen Joe and Brendan play in that lark recently, they seem pretty up to snuff.

I think Guy lives in NYC these days, while the rest are in the DC area.

Saw the unnamed Ian, Amy, and Joe band in DC (free show though donations encourage to a church's feed the homeless program). They were just ok-- a mix of Evens like vocals, some Fugazi like vocals from Ian, and fugazi style dub reggae influenced bass and drum rhythms. I was kinda hoping they'd go off in different directions than their prior outfits, but that mostly didn't happen. Most of the comments on Facebook and twitter I saw were more positive than mine about their sound btw (although a few folks i spoke to agreed with me). I liked Fugazi back in the day, but this is just kinda there. Oh Guy came down from NY to watch. Lotsa of other Dischord and DC punk folks there too -- from Bratmobile, Fire Party, Priests, Kingface...

This made my day. #minorthreat #saladdays #dischordrecords. pic.twitter.com/CAdF854uB2

— bernie (@bernie) November 17, 2018

Aww

Senior Threat

Messthetics record is good! they're supporting Michael Rother in london in a few weeks, should be a good night.

I had a hilariously mundane dream about these guys a week or so ago, that I missed a one-off reunion show and was reading really good things about it on the internet.

What a band.

weird

Let us all work to get Fugazi to reunite, play at our Arena, we will compensate the band, and make a major donation to local charities in their names, it has been too long. They resonate well with all generations, we miss them. Check this out. https://t.co/c7HcqHWY4l

— Ted Leonsis (@TedLeonsis) May 13, 2019

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/688087701220913152/EiCnLqQC_400x400.jpg

"Hope they play Glue Man. No slam-dancing in the pit!"

Billionaire Caps & Wizards owner Leonsis is clueless and cheap. While his predecessor the late Abe Pollin built the Capital One Arena largely with his own money, Leonsis is always hitting up DC taxpayers for $ to upgrade the arena, and to pay for the SE Mystics WNBA Arena. The Se Fort Dupont recreation arena needs big bucks to be refurbished & Leonis gave just 100,000 as part of a go fund me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Ce5kgPWOY

LOL, Alice Donut. My friend got his shoulder dislocated at one of their shows.