Fugazi
Furniture (Ep)

THE REVIEW

I have the complete discography of Fugazi; all in original vinyl. I keep it with scrupulous and obsessive care. I've made myself CD copies and often return to their side; after all, they remain one of my absolute musts in Music. I still remember the concert at Leoncavallo in Milan in October 1999; easy to imagine the magnitude and consistency of their performance. And also my furious participation near the stage!!

The only original CD I own from the band is this EP released in October 2001, almost simultaneously with the release of their last full-length album "The Argument". There are only three tracks for a mere nine minutes of duration; short but intense minutes because two songs were composed and conceived by Fugazi at the dawn of their career, in the late eighties. They finally decide to release them when we are already close to the end of their prodigious musical adventure. Better late than never, come on.

You can tell from the first notes that the song "Furniture" belongs to their past, the angrier and more overwhelming one: a start strikingly similar to "Waiting Room", with that so recognizable sound. Sharp, muted guitars; an impulsive and direct bass, a dry drum that heats everything up. And then Ian's voice exploding the song when he reaches the word "Bullshit": the singing changes register, becoming torn, raw, wild. And the instruments go on to create an incendiary sound wall; Post-Hardcore with a punch.

The instrumental "Number 5" features a second drummer to give further consistency and dynamism to a song with an oblique, lopsided flow. A full sound that suddenly stops, then starts again and slows down again: a 100% "fugazian" song.

We are already at the final two minutes of "Hello Morning"; another stormy glance at the past. Hardcore without the Post this time: Guy's incomprehensible screams (try to follow the lyrics) dictate the wild rhythms of a track that foams uncontrolled rage in every second. They leave us in the best way possible: a kind of auditory testament that leaves its mark. A vast and deep mark.

FVGAZI is Brendan Canty, Joe Lally, Ian MacKaye, Guy Picciotto; from Washington DC. Thanks.

To SilasLang, heartshapedbox and hjhhjij.

Ad Maiora.