Fugazi
First Demo
(Dischord Records)
4/5
The story of Washington, DC post-punk band Fugazi is the stuff of legend, especially if you grew up going to punk shows, making ‘zines, and wearing your heart on your sleeve, like I did.
So when news dropped a few months ago that guitarist/vocalist Ian MacKaye’s label Dischord Records would be releasing the original Fugazi demos, including unreleased songs and demo versions of their classic songs, I got stupid excited.
After all, this is a band whose discography has worn itself into my psyche over the past 20-plus years, and that leads us to right now; me listening to this and getting floored all over again by a band who began with a blunt modus operandi: do something completely different than any other punk band had ever done.
Sure, remnants of the members’ previous bands, such as Minor Threat and Rites of Spring, are pretty evident here, but these demos were the humble beginnings of a band that changed punk forever.
Perhaps even more thrilling and inspiring is First Demo confirms that even Fugazi, in all of their punk-rock glory, were at one time an upstart garage band.
And if that doesn’t get you off your ass, nothing will.