Not Going To Argue With Fugazi

Once every generation something revolutionary happens without making many waves and a decade later someone finally catches on and by that time it becomes old school or hip to the hip people and to the people who caught it the first time realize their genius. This is the case for me back in 1990. While I was boppin' to Classic Rock I got sidetracked by a friend I worked with. He heard more then likely heard too many "Smoke on the Water" coming from my Walkman and came to me and handed me a cassette tape with a band called Fugazi. He told me if I liked the cassette I should go check them out at UConn.

I put the tape in my tape deck and rode my bike back to my house. I got through two songs and was floored. This was not classic rock, nor was it stuff that was played on the radio I listened to, but it was really awesome stuff. The guitar sounds were angled and not slick. The drumming was crazy and the voices were loud. Even the bass lines were full of imagination and enough to add their two cents in when necessary. Those two cents were very important to the plot of each song. I think I played the tape five times that day. I was so impressed with the tape I made a copy just to hold me over till I could buy it myself when I had to give him back his cassette.



When I gave him back the cassette he handed me a ticket to the show at UConn. He told me don't worry about paying me back because it was cheap. When I looked at the ticket price I thought he had gotten some student discount on it. He laughed and told me the price of the ticket is the same price as it was when he saw them a year ago. At $6.00 it was a steal. I was impressed. Then came the show. After about and hour into the show I was in a trance. I was wondering once again how a band like that can sound so great. They finished about a half and hour later and I looked at my friend and told him that my new favorite band is Fugazi.



Over the course of the next few years after that show and the record they were promoting I would see them again and again. Each time was an exciting new adventure. Each time was still $6.00 for a ticket to see the best and most revolutionary Hardcore/Punk band in the world. I quickly bought their albums and studied their progress and waited with anticipation what they would do next. I am not sure how they do it, but Fugazi makes things fun to listen to them. You wonder what they are doing and what is in the mind of all four members of the band.

They are not dumb in what they do, they make us think a little more then your average band. I like that about them. What I also like is the fact that the energy of the album is nicely transposed into their live shows. That might be a understatement, because they are pretty crazy on stage. So is their banter with the crowd. It is amazing to hear just what they do and how they do it.

While in college I had a chance to see them one last time before they took a hiatus. I had the new album in my hand and I listened with intent. I had an idea that some of the sound from them was going to be different, but I also expected this to be the best of the last hurrah they have created. I was not disappointed, I was loving every part of the album. What I liked was the fact that a few of the songs from the new album which was titled The Argument had added a second drummer. Since I am a lover of the drums I was extremely happy at what they did. I was so impressed what they did I even bought their EP to go with The Argument and even that did not disappoint.



Fugazi is a band that everyone should take a chance on. Not because of it's hard driving sound, but on what they do. They prove to all the young guys who think they are good, and they put them in their place. Fugazi is the best at everything. It's like a friend you know who is a Rhode Scholar without having the paper to show it. This band has no argument from me, because they are amazing in every sense of the word. Listen to a band that has such a high measure of quality that it is tough to lump them in the same genre of music they play. All others should look up to Fugazi as a band that is fun, smart and great and most of a band you cannot argue with. Enjoy!!!