A Wolf At The Door...: Bulldog Front...

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Bulldog Front...

i had a great sunday. i got up early, took a shower and went to church. i have missed the last two sundays, so it was good to go back and catch up. i feel bad when i miss...

for this post i just want to dive head first into the music post since this is gonna be my biggest one yet. for today i want you all to check out the band Fugazi.

what can i say about this band that hasn't been said all over the world before??? well just to give a brief introduction, this is the band that many claim started it all. what did they start exactly??? well it's a hard subject to talk about since the band themselves hate the statement, but i guess i'll go ahead and tell ya. it is now said that this band started emo. yes, these guys are responsible for the term emo and the movement that followed.

now this is not my opinion. let's get that out first. to say that i believe that statement is totally false. to say that i personally love this band and all that they have done is true. let's go back further here. okay, to begin with, this band is comprised of two singers who are regarded as the pioneers in the emo movement. first you have the famous (in punk) Ian Mckaye. this guy use to sing in the Teen Idols and the awesome Minor Threat and then the band Embrace. (not the british boy band...) his latter band embrace was started as an outlet to get his emotions free on the then current violence in american punk rock. what happened was that the subject matter changed and the ideas and passions became something much more than what punk was use to being at the time. (1980's)

the other singer is Guy Picciotto. this man use to sing and play guitar for the bands One Last Wish and the very famous Rights of Spring. the latter is the "other" band that many consider, along side embrace, as the first emo bands. okay, so those older bands broke apart and went their seperate ways, what now??? well Ian and Guy came together and started fugazi.

Ian and some buddies started their own independent label back in the early 80's called dischord records.

this is the blueprint for indie. this is where the term comes from. it's all about being independant and not conforming to the majors and their ways of making money at the expense of the fans who love the music. this way of making music and performance translated into their live shows as well. for the most part, the band tried their best to charge the least amount for admission which came down to five dollars and ten dollars at various locations. add to that the word-of-mouth from intense and amazing live sets and there you go. all of the bands releases have been through dischord records as well as great music from many other artists too.

as for the praise this band gets, you can definitely say that they deserve it. these guys paved the way for alternative (ha ha) music in the 80's and 90's. the entire revolution summer started with these guys and the dischord sound was formed. this is all a part of the first wave of emo music in america regardless if you like it or not. it's the inspiration that happens to be the lasting appeal of this band. you can't listen to many bands without going back to these guys. without fugazi there isn't Nirvana. without fugazi there isn't Smashing Pumpkins. without fugazi there isn't 90's midwest emo. without fugazi there isn't bands with the balls to just go out there and diy their lives away for the sake and passion and love of the art. the love of music. the love of connection. the love of it all.

okay, so here is their discography in order. first is 13 Songs, then the great album Repeater, followed by Steady Diet of Nothing, then In on the Kill Taker, then Red Medicine, with End Hits and Instrument Soundtrack and last but not least, The Argument. enjoy!!!