BETO O’ROURKE’S #1 FAVORITE BAND

AND I LIKE THEM A LOT TOO, BUT IT’S NOT LIKE ANYONE HERE CARES FOR MY OPINION.

“Burning Too”, from 13 Songs (1989)

“Blueprint”, from Repeater (1990)

“Rend It”, from In on the Kill Taker (1993)

They know just where to prod you, how to jar you, capture your ear and hold it hostage. Their rhythm section is tight and relentlessly heavy-hitting, and their guitar never fucking sounds like one. And they’ve got not one but TWO singers that BOTH scream but one yells in tune sometimes. Besides their rhythm, though, what gets me is their lyrics. Each of these songs has brilliant lyrics, mostly centering around one’s inherent moral duties as a human being. As an artist. As a citizen of this planet.

As A mEmBeR oF sOcIeTy.

It’s not surprising, considering the lifestyle they lead and the community they support – being celebrated musicians that refused to sell merch or charge more than $5 for tickets, living simply, DIY-ing their shit. Not to get all utilitarian and anti-art and that, but it’s inspiring to have music that stands for something. That isn’t absolute shit.

It’s hard to write individual descriptions for each song, because even as a fan freshly infatuated by Fugazi’s ethics and philosophy and eardrum-busting jams, I have to admit that their songs all follow a similar format.

More like, they can be broken down into their constituent captivating parts, which of course doesn’t make them any less captivating. Also, I’m lazy.

So besides the head-jerking grooves and tear-jerking lyrics, each song’s got these one or two lines or phrases that repeat, like a chant, so that you, as a member of an audience at some show in 1998, can scream along to the very much active band performing very much live, very much in front of you.

Sigh.

But don’t despair, they’re just as addicting to sing along to these twenty years later, only you have to do it under your breath because you’re on the subway and there are decent folk about. Rhythmic body jerks are OK too, but don’t do it too much.

 

I said what I said.

-Mans

P. S. No, goddammit, I feel bad for saying what I said (guess I’ll rend it) about their songs all sounding the same. These three kinda do, but you know what THAT means.

Fugazi pt. 2 coming soon.