Fugazi - In On The Kill Taker (Albini Demos)

Label: bootleg

Year: 1993

This one is sort of a no brainer, but maybe you haven't had the chance to hear these versions of some of the tracks that would later show up on the "In On The Kill Taker" lp.

Let's review why you will need this in your record collection:

1. Fugazi, turns out, are one of the best bands of our generation (assuming we're all between the ages of 20 and 40 here). They are the proverbial "often imitated, never duplicated" band of this subculture. Can you name one band that actually sounds like Fugazi? Nope? Neither can I.

2. "In On The Kill Taker" is the band's finest body of work. Period. Sorry to step on your toes, but for my money, this record demonstrates the band on top of their game, and perfects all the elements that make up their "sound". I am fully aware of the importance of the first 12", trust me, I have it committed to memory too. Not to pull the age card, but in order to establish some credentials lest you think I'm speaking out of turn, I have been listening to, and seeing the band perform since their inception. I pre-ordered that first 12" from Dischord, and I saw the band play on their first run of shows outside Washington D.C. You gotta believe me when I say, "I'm a fan of Fugazi". Well, a few years into their career I thought the band was losing it, and winding down, and I began to drift away ("Steady Diet Of Nothing" being the prime reason), but then found myself staring down two nights in a row of them playing Athens, Georgia at the 40 Watt in 1992(?), and they were playing a bunch of songs that would be on "In On The Kill Taker", and those songs were unreal. The band was playing harder, the songs were more intense, the whole show was a slap in the face...Fugazi were in no way, shape, or form, losing it. They were focused like a laser, killing it like I had never seen before, and would never see again, those two nights are still among the best live performances I've ever witnessed. So when the new record came out, it only re-affirmed what they proved at the 40 Watt, that they were untouchable. So, yeah, it's their best record.

3. Steve Albini, the much maligned anti-producer, has a real knack for "selecting and placing microphones" in such a way that the end result is a crisp BOOM. These recordings are no exception, the drums are huge, the guitars are crunchy, Joe Lally shakes the floorboards, and the vocals cut through the din in perfect desperation. Supposedly the band weren't happy with their performance, so they re-recorded these songs and the rest of the album back in D.C. for release.

So: Fugazi + their best songs + Steve Albini engineering = a must have. Easy.

DL