Fugazi - The Argument

In the fifteen years Fugazi existed they released some pretty incredible, important and inspirational songs. Unfortunately they were sometimes buried between mounds of crap. They were a band that never seemed to edit themselves, giving way to sporadic musical changes, albums that never really flowed, and hit and miss songwriting. I can find a song on every Fugazi record that is fucking mind blowing along with something I wouldn't force my arch nemesis to listen to. I'm not complaining, it was just the nature of the band, every idea was explored, and that always has it's pro's and con's.

Luckily, before they called it quits, they ended on a high note with The Argument.

Along with having some of my favorite Fugazi tracks, it also has the least amount of shit, which puts it a step above the rest. Drummer Brendan Canty* played a big part in Fugazi, along with drums he also played guitar and piano, and he wrote a fair number of tracks for the band. His drumming was a solid base that allowed to other guys to play whatever the hell they wanted over top of him.

In Cashout Brendan maintains a steady rhythm with sixteenth notes on the snare rim and sporadic snare hits. Even when the song picks up with some distorted guitars he never strays, letting the other guys take care of dynamics. He does a similar thing on the Sonic Youth-esque Life and Limb. He had the ability to lay in the backround or be up front, loud and noisy like the rest of the band. In Full Disclosure he works in a plethora of rolls before rocking the fuck out on the chorus, and in Epic Problem they kick into these huge stops where Brendan keeps going, bringing up the momentum and giving him a chance to showcase himself.

I havn't even gone through the first half of this record yet and every song has something unique and impressive on Brendans part. Basically, The Argument takes every awesome thing about Fugazi and scrunches it into one record. It really doesn't have any bum songs, only certain parts I could do without (like the first half of Nightshop, for instance), and that's just personal preference.

Hell, if I would have put out a record like The Argument after being a band for 15 years, I would have called it quits too.

*While I am talking mostly about Brendan Canty I can't give him all of the credit. Fugazi messed around with two drummers a lot, and on The Argument a lot of songs have Jerry Busher playing a second kit. Busher was a roadie for Fugazi who played percussion once in a while, and they eventually brought him into the studio for this record and Furniture +2, and EP they were recording at the same time.

Audio/Visual Evidence: Full Disclosure, Epic Problem