Podia passar a vida inteira a ouvir música sem que os Fugazi se atravessassem no caminho. Estes breves contemporâneos dos Pixies pugnavam por uma sonoridade similar à da banda de Black Francis (baseio-me no único álbum que conheço por enquanto; condensados de energia que frequentes vezes não passam dos dois minutos de dura acção), embora de produção "no osso", que ousou deixar de fora as costuras do seu rock-punk-indie-hardcore, tudo ao mesmo tempo. Os Fugazi existiram numa década – os anos 90 – em que me exilei por géneros musicais mais conformistas, e são recuperados hoje por grupos com som pesado e heterogéneo como os Kylesa de Spiral Shadow. A descoberta dos Fugazi devo-a a Laura Pleasants, uma das vozes e guitarras dos Kylesa. Sinto-me informado e inconformado, duplamente satisfeito:
I am a huge Fugazi fan. I remember anxiously waiting for this record to come out. I believe I bought it the day it came out, and I studied the liner notes and art relentlessly. I think, as a whole, this is their best record. I jammed this and Repeater a whole lot in high school (as with Minor Threat) …well…I jammed all of their records but this probably reminds me of high school the most….maybe this and Red Medicine Riding around in Jonathan Fuller’s old car with this blaring in the tape deck, FUGAZI was the band that got me through so much bullshit. I loved their lyrics, their punk ethic and their control of weird guitar feedback. They took their punk roots and twisted them into an angle of their own. They did everything themselves. They charged $5 for their live shows. They blew everyone away and influenced more people than most bands of their day, and they never had an interview in a major music magazine like Spin or Rolling Stone. I have so much respect for this band.
Os Fugazi, eles próprios, eram como a música que faziam. Inteligentes, não estereotipados (diz-nos por exemplo a wikipedia, citando várias fontes):
The group (MacKaye in particular) also made a point of discouraging violent, unwanted slam dancing and fistfights, which they saw as relics of the late 1970s/early 1980s hardcore punk era. Azerrad quotes Mackaye, "See, [slam dancers] have one form of communication: violence ... So to disorient them, you don't give them violence. I'd say, 'Excuse me, sir...'- I mean, it freaks them out -'Excuse me, sir, would you please cut that crap out?'" (emphasis in original) Azerrad writes, "[Mackaye's] admonitions seemed preachy to some. And by and large, people would obey - it wasn't cool to disrespect Ian MacKaye." Occasionally, Fugazi would escort an unrepentant slam-dancer from the concert, and give them an envelope containing a $5 refund (they kept a stock of such envelopes in their tour van for these occasions).
