13 Songs

About

Fugazi came together in 1986, not long after Ian MacKaye—a vocalist, guitarist, and hardcore pioneer—parted ways with Embrace, a lively mid-tempo punk act that had broken up after less than a year. Afterward, MacKaye teamed up with Joe Lally, a bass player who’d roadied with the D.C. act Beefeater. The two began fleshing out song, and though it took some time to finalize Fugazi’s lineup, MacKaye and Lally eventually teamed with drummer Brendan Canty and guitarist and vocalist Guy Picciotto. All four musicians had been part of the politically charged, musically adventurous punk scene that had sprung up in Washington, D.C. in the 1980, giving rise to acts like Minor Threat and Rites of Spring—bands that lasted only a few year, but would influence the sound and ethos of punk for decades to come. For many listener, Fugazi’s <i>13 Songs</i> would serve as a crucial intro to the D.C. sound. Released in 1989, it collects the band’s first two EP, starting with 1988’s <i>Fugazi</i>. Those first seven songs—written mostly by MacKaye during the band’s first year, and produced by D.C. legend Ted Niceley—were recorded before Picciotto added his cutting Rickenbacker guitar to the mix. But these early tracks nonetheless feel fully formed, driven by Fugazi’s abstract yet topical lyric, and a sound that incorporates everything from reggae to The Stooges: “Waiting Room” reflects MacKaye’s frustrations with being on the musical sidelines for a few year, while the Picciotto-sung “Give Me the Cure” takes aim at the AIDS crisi. “Suggestion,” meanwhile, takes a complex look at sexual harassment, and the extraordinary “Glue Man”—a fan-favorite that often closed the band’s mesmerizing live shows—morphs from an observation of a drug addict to a galaxy-brain jam. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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