13 Songs Mount Airy NC

13 Songs

Fugazi

Dischord, 1990

REVIEW BY: Sean McCarthy

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 10/24/2005

Fugazi's integrity is oftentimes mentioned more than the band'smusic. They continue to record on Dischord's label. Admission totheir concerts is dirt cheap. And when Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedderstarted to get freaked out with multi-platinum success, he went toIan MacKaye to get a head check.

It's almost like a percentage of Fugazi's fans listen to theirmusic as a statement of principle rather than professing anyadmiration of the music. Fear not, Fugazi has made plenty ofquality albums. 13 Songs, the album that introduced them to a mass audience,almost single-handedly guaranteed punk would have a future in thelate '80s through the '90s.

"Yes I know this is politically correct / But it comes to youspiritually direct / An attempt to thoughtfully affect / Your wayof thinking," MacKaye sings on "And The Same." This was writtenalmost the same time that "politically correct" began circulatingin the academic circles -- about five years before mainstreamAmerica began to tire of the term. The song sets the tone for 13 Songs: honest, sincere and more than a littleself-righteous.

Screw it though. If you're going to be ambitious, you're goingto be perceived as self-righteous, elitist or self-absorbed. Andeven though Fugazi's sound isn't the most original or evenambitious sound in punk rock, their style seems effortless."Provisional" and "Waiting Room" seem like 'punk' anthems, even theonly thing that truly qualifies as 'punk' sound is the time limits(both fall under three minutes).