Published on Oct 24, 2005
Fugazi’s integrity is oftentimes mentioned more than the band’s
music. They continue to record on Dischord’s label. Admission to
their concerts is dirt cheap. And when Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder
started to get freaked out with multi-platinum success, he went to
Ian MacKaye to get a head check.
It’s almost like a percentage of Fugazi’s fans listen to their
music as a statement of principle rather than professing any
admiration of the music. Fear not, Fugazi has made plenty of
quality albums.
13 Songs, the album that introduced them to a mass audience,
almost single-handedly guaranteed punk would have a future in the
late ’80s through the ’90s.
“Yes I know this is politically correct / But it comes to you
spiritually direct / An attempt to thoughtfully affect / Your way
of thinking,” MacKaye sings on “And The Same.” This was written
almost the same time that “politically correct” began circulating
in the academic circles — about five years before mainstream
America began to tire of the term. The song sets the tone for
13 Songs: honest, sincere and more than a little
self-righteous.
Screw it though. If you’re going to be ambitious, you’re going
to be perceived as self-righteous, elitist or self-absorbed. And
even though Fugazi’s sound isn’t the most original or even
ambitious sound in punk rock, their style seems effortless.
“Provisional” and “Waiting Room” seem like ‘punk’ anthems, even the
only thing that truly qualifies as ‘punk’ sound is the time limits
(both fall under three minutes).
Most of the targets on
13 Songs are vague; the establishment, apathy, the prison
system. A song that appears to be anti-drug (“Waiting Room”) could
just as easily be about post-college degree anxiety. MacKaye
doesn’t claim to have the answers as he sings in “Promises”:
“Stupid f**king words/ They tangle us in our desires.”
13 Songs may not be as important as other punk landmarks,
but it caused a lot of punk fans to breath easier in the late ’80s.
A stabilizing force was now in the punk scene.