Three 65, Day 16
Fugazi, 13 Songs

It took me a long time to come around to Fugazi. I went to one of their concerts once, in an abandoned warehouse (typical), and held my ears for the duration of the show. I just wasn't getting it. I liked my punk rock straightforward and hated the sound of Guy Picciotto's voice.

But, eventually, I came around, first to Fugazi's later albums, which incorporate a lot of varied styles to them, and then, finally, to their landmark record, 13 Songs. Comprised of two EPs (the Fugazi EP and the Margin Walker EP), 13 Songs is Fugazi's first full-length release, and in my opinion, their finest hour.

A lot of guff has been made about Fugazi's monk-like existence. They don't smoke (not true); they don't drink (not true); they discourage moshing at their shows (very true). I think these are excuses made by people who don't want to open up to their sound and their lyrics, which are as potent as any in the punk rock omniverse.

Take "Waiting Room," for example. It sounds, at first, almost like reggae, but nothing could be further from the truth - that's just Fugazi appropriating other styles to serve their own purpose. Then, about a third of the way through the song, the bottom drops out, and the fury kicks in. In perfect call-and-response, dual vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Piciotto wax rhapsodic about waiting for things in life, instead of going out and making things happen. Theirs is a call-to-arms for a community of alternative slackers too apathetic to do most of their thinking for themselves.

"Suggestion" is powerful too, as MacKaye steps into the role of a woman, and how they are forced to deal with men on the long-term. Over a laid back guitar note, MacKaye croons: "We sit back like they taught us... We keep quiet like they taught us..." and closes with the assertion that "we are all guilty." Powerful stuff.

The second half of the album is equally powerful, especially the closing song, "Promises," which features the immortal couplet "Promises are shit / We speak the way we breathe." Fugazi would go on to release a lot of great, great albums before finally (and unofficially) calling it quits in the early 21st century. 13 Songs was just the beginning.