Fugazi

Those who refuse to learn from rock history are doomed to watch its repetition in kicky
fad form, its intentions misunderstood and its inheritors mutated beyond recognition. So
little wonder that D.C.'s hardcore muse and former minuteman Ian MacKaye bears the
punk-rock torch with sometimes missionary zeal. The Argument, Fugazi's eighth album, is a
bracing corrective to the misconceptions of punk's original intent. Point one: Pu... More >

Shades of Gang of Four, Minutemen, Mission of Burma even, to update for appearance's sake, Dismemberment Plan, one of many bands Ian MacKaye hath wrought. Punk minimalism evolved into song forms that bifurcate like art-rock. Everybody hip to tempo shifts, rhythm changes. And on this album, finally, recording equal to the tough dynamics that keep Fugazi alive as much as its integrity and idealism. Political chamber music isn't what they envisioned. But it's what they've accomplished, and an accomplishment it is. (Grade: B+)