Needles & Grooves AoTM /// Vol. 14 - August 2020 /// Fugazi - In on the Kill Taker

Thackeraye said:
I have the great honour of announcing the 14th N&G AoTM Many congratulations to @thebrianjackson for correctly guessing first, and thanks to all of you for taking part. The album I have chosen to celebrate this month is Fugazi’s In on the Kill Taker.

When the ideal of an Album of the Month was discussed on the forum, I was always excited about us having the opportunity to focus on albums which couldn’t or wouldn’t be covered by a more corporate entity. Not having a profit motive would open us up to albums from the fiercely independent entities and bands, and Dischord Records perfectly encapsulates this. Record and gig prices were kept to a minimum, and no Fugazi merchandise was ever sold. The key was to get music that was as good as possible out there for as many people as possible.

Dischord was created by and for the DC punk scene of the 1980’s, and was instrumental in documenting the bands at that point in time, and as they grew and evolved. Punk became Straight Edge, which became Emotional Hardcore (a horrible term, but it’s all we have), which evolved further into Fugazi’s sound, which in many ways is hard to pigeonhole. The fact that all of the members of Fugazi were involved in bands during these evolutions was part of the fun; you could start at the beginning with Minor Threat and go forwards to Fugazi and vice-versa, and at each stage you would find different things to enjoy. The Dischord label became a mark of quality.

By 1993, when this album was released, the band members were in their second decade as professional musicians, and it shows. Endlessly workshopped and practiced, the songs are impeccably played (I’d argue that the Brendan Canty/Joe Lally rhythm section is one of the best ever), and is the perfect mix of power, invention, and strong, thought-provoking lyrics. This isn’t the first Fugazi album I heard (Repeater + 3 - probably a “lighter” introduction to the band), but for me it best encapsulates their sound.

For what can be quickly assumed as simply loud guitar music, this album is surprisingly versatile, and has been used by others as a jumping point. Prefer Hip Hop - no bother, just go listen to the Wugazi mash up album that mixes them with the Wu Tang Clan (it’s actually pretty good). Enjoy modern classical - then Stargaze’s Instruments reinterpretation has you covered.

The story of the creation of this album also created one of the pieces of ephemera that makes being a music fan in the internet age so fun. Looking for a different sound, the band originally recorded these songs with Steve Albini (the recording of which is mentioned in Albini’s letter to Kurt Cobain in his pitch to produce In Utero). Both he and the band had a blast, but as soon as they heard the recording both parties knew it wasn’t right. I’ll be linking to the recordings in this thread and they are totally right, but it’s fun to compare them to the final version.

For me, I found Fugazi as I was losing my love with mainstream 90’s alt-metal & grunge. Not liking the Nu-metal direction, albums like In on the Kill Taker showed me that there was a whole other seam to mine; that there were bands out there that coupled intelligence and loud guitars, and could push your tastes into other avenues. I hope you enjoy your time with it, please let me know what you think.
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This is a great record and a fine choice. Owned it since it's release. Bravo.

Also, very nice write-up. Everyone prepare to be disappointed next month.
 
Listening to Coriky this morning. 1. Why did it take me this long to listen to it? (Will need to stalk a restock at my local). 2. I’m not gonna be able to wait. I loaded up the entire Evens, Fugazi, Messthetics, Minir Threat and Teen Idles catalogs this morning. 3. What happened to the high school/college kid who was obsessed with Fugazi and was gonna change the damn world? Adult me needs to find that kid.
 
Lee Newman said:
Listening to Coriky this morning. 1. Why did it take me this long to listen to it? (Will need to stalk a restock at my local). 2. I’m not gonna be able to wait. I loaded up the entire Evens, Fugazi, Messthetics, Minir Threat and Teen Idles catalogs this morning. 3. What happened to the high school/college kid who was obsessed with Fugazi and was gonna change the damn world? Adult me needs to find that kid.
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I only really half-listened to one of the Evens albums. Will need to dip into more.
 
Lee Newman said:
Listening to Coriky this morning. 1. Why did it take me this long to listen to it? (Will need to stalk a restock at my local). 2. I’m not gonna be able to wait. I loaded up the entire Evens, Fugazi, Messthetics, Minir Threat and Teen Idles catalogs this morning. 3. What happened to the high school/college kid who was obsessed with Fugazi and was gonna change the damn world? Adult me needs to find that kid.
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I finally found a copy of Coriky in town today, gonna pick it up this afternoon. It’s a good set of tunes.
 
Started my fugazi discography relisten project. First thoughts
Fugazi (7 songs) EP : this screams "We are not Minor threat", A statement of intent, much slower , restrained than the punk roots of the members.i thought a lot thar what @Thackeraye said in his write-up: the rythm section is stellar. There is so much going on in baselines and drum patterns. For many songs if you'd just isolate drum and base you'd never group this near punk. There are some strong dub/ reggae influences but also a lot more. For a first ep from a band it is extremly confident. you really hear that those people recorded with other bands before. All fugazi signatures are already there: the rythm patterns, tge angular guitars, the tempo changes, the singing vs screaming, noise vs melodies and the contrast of rythm driven and melody driven sections. And tgey scored there biggest hit with the first song on their first ep.
 
Margin Walker EP: the most punk they ever sounded on record , got the fastest, most ferocious playing and screaming songs they recorded. There are still quieter and slower passages but it feels like now they got the minor threat comparisons out of the way with the first ep they are freer to channel such aggressive sound again.
 
Repeater : they basically took what they established with the 2 eps and ran with it, let it breathe and explored their different sounds further. There is more melodic singing and guitar work, but also shout along sections. There are more songs in the 3.5 to 4 minute range that give their sound more room and there are two instrumentals that really showcase their rythm section , again. Plus the title track is all propelled by rhythm.

Overall on relistening th 2eps and repeater i am amazed how little fat these records have. There are no songs that seem filler or in the wrong place, no experiments that seem to meander in the wrong direction.
 
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