Fugazi 13 Songs CD

13 SONGS combines the eponymous EP and the MARGIN WALKER mini-LP on one CD.
Disregarding all the wordiness and adjectives that can be heaped like a pile of horse dung at Disneyland upon great, timeless albums, the importance of this record can perhaps be more suitably measured by the number of people who remember the first time they heard it. 13 Songs (a combination of the Fugazi and Margin Walker EPs) is usually among the first records that spring to mind when defining alternative rock. Furious, intelligent, artful, and entirely musical, it's a baker's dozen of cannon shots to the gut -- not just a batch of emotionally visceral and defiant songs recorded by angry young men, but something greater. Nearly every song here reaches an anthemic level without falling prey to pomposity. Most of these songs are anthems of the self rather than a rallying cry of accusation or unification, with "Waiting Room" and "Suggestion" serving as two examples. The attention-getting drop into silence that occurs at the 22-second mark of the former is instantly memorable. The relentless ska/reggae-inflected drive of the song is equally effective, as Ian MacKaye tells everyone listening to get off their behinds and do what they want. During the Meters-meets-Ruts thrust of "Suggestion," MacKaye switches genders for an entirely convincing rant on the objectification of women. Guy Picciotto takes on the persona of an addict on "Glue Man," whose blurred sense of reality is also conveyed in the warped, psychedelic guitars. Picciotto threatens to set himself on fire during "Margin Walker"; given the spirited play of the remaining members, it sounds like the same could be said for the rest of them. Foreshadowing the band's knack for introspective and mid-tempo concluding tracks, the disc ends with MacKaye's "Promises," examining the pitfalls of trust in relationships of any nature. A landmark record. ~ Andy Kellman
Combining the band's first two EPs, Fugazi's 13 SONGS is nothing less than a landmark hardcore album. From the unmistakable opening bass line of "Waiting Room" to the cathartic finale of "Promises," the record is DIY post-punk at its finest. And though the quartet would become known for its anti-corporate/consumerism stance, 13 SONGS is all about unapologetically intense music.
Founded by ex-Minor Threat and Embrace frontman Ian MacKaye, Joe Lally, Guy Picciotto and Brendan Canty (the latter two from Rites of Spring), Fugazi had a remarkably fully formed sound on this set of songs, with alternately fierce and chiming guitars exploding over fluid bass grooves and tight, propulsive rhythms. Already a revered figure on the Washington D.C. hardcore scene at the time of this 1989 release, MacKaye opted to share lyric, vocal, and guitar duties with Picciotto, giving the group an even greater sense of dynamics. "Bad Mouth" boasts an almost ska-like vibe, and "Margin Walker" is angular aggro-rock, while "Provisional" carries elements of atmospheric pop. True, the roots of emo-rock are present, but as Fugazi proves here, they are a band whose music transcends labels.Spin (5/01, p.110) - Ranked #33 in Spin's "50 Most Essential Punk Records" - "...Modernized hardcore overnight....Earnestly explosive."
Alternative Press (3/02, p.96) - Included in AP's "Essential Punk Influences '02 Style" - "...This is the album that first showed a million lesser-known bands it was possible to make it on your own terms..."
New York Times (Publisher) (3/7/91) - "Fugazi has broken free of hard-core's conventions...the music is all muscle and bone; songs riff, blare, riff, pause and crunch, then stop dead, as terse and Apollonian as a string quartet."