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Avg: 4.5 (288 ratings)
- Date Released: June 30, 1993
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Dischord Records
A return to rage as powerful as it was heartfelt.
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We Say...
Underground leaders at the time but all but unknown compared to, say, Pearl Jam, Fugazi released this album as the rise of alternative rock no longer seemed like a fluke but a historical inevitability. After 1991's bone-dry Steady Diet of Nothing,1993's Kill Taker was a return to rage as powerful as it was heartfelt. The furious opener "Facet Squared" finds Ian MacKaye writing perfect punk maxims ("We draw lines, stand behind them/ That's why flags are SUCH UGLY THINGS”) while Picciotto shouted out Native America ("Smallpox Champion") and his favorite filmmaker ("Cassavetes"). "Great Cop" yells at journalists, "Sweet and Low" is an instrumental lullaby and "Instrument" tries to get the balance right. For all emo took from the album, that style never did catch up to Kill Taker’s refined, hellacious power.
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They Say...
In on the Kill Taker is like scrubbing your face with steel wool. It finds the band relying on rusty guitar shards that scrape, seethe, and hiss, further removing itself from the sound of 13 Songs and Repeater. Harsh and grating, Fugazi surprisingly produces sheer noise at times, best witnessed in the lengthy closing of "23 Beats Off" and the unintentional Gremlins homage that opens "Walken's Syndrome." Joe Lally's bass and Brendan Canty's drums are relegated to acting as a guide; they're pushed -- but not squashed -- down in the mix, allowing for Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto's guitars to take control, corrosively so. It's probably Fugazi's least digestible record from front to back, but each track has its own attractive qualities, even if not immediately perceptible. "Facet Squared" and "Public Witness Program" open the record furiously, but the majority of the following "Return the Screw" is hardly audible, aside from occasional vocal tantrums. A good amount of time is spent alternating between low-key guitar noodling and intrusive bursts of aggression. They're smart with their sequencing, placing the gentle instrumental "Sweet and Low" (the only track where Lally plays a prominent role) after the exhaustive cacophony of "23 Beats Off," and generally piecing together a set of rather diverse tracks that flows well. Picciotto's anti-Hollywood rant on the properly titled "Cassavetes" is a classic Fugazi moment, as is his similarly name-dropping "Walken's Syndrome." Buried at the end of the record are two excellent lurchers, MacKaye's "Instrument" and Picciotto's "Last Chance for a Slow Dance." Not Fugazi's finest hour, but one of its most daring and rewarding.
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| 01. |  |
Facet Squared |
2:41 |
|
| 02. | |
Public Witness Program |
2:04 |
|
| 03. | |
Returning the Screw |
3:14 |
|
| 04. | |
Smallpox Champion |
4:00 |
|
| 05. | |
Rend It |
3:47 |
|
| 06. | |
23 Beats Off |
6:42 |
|
| 07. | |
Sweet and Low |
3:34 |
|
| 08. | |
Cassavetes |
2:30 |
|
| 09. | |
Great Cop |
1:52 |
|
| 10. | |
Walken's Syndrome |
3:17 |
|
| 11. | |
Instrument |
3:44 |
|
| 12. | |
Last Chance for a Slow Dance |
4:37 |
|
12 Total Tracks, 42:02 Total Length
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Credits
- Fugazi - Producer // Fugazi - Main Performer // Ted Nicely - Producer // Don Zientara - Engineer // Brendan Canty - Drums // Brendan Canty - ? // Joe Lally - Bass // Joe Lally - ? // Ian MacKaye - Guitar // Ian MacKaye - Vocals // Ian MacKaye - ? // Guy Picciotto - Guitar // Guy Picciotto - Vocals // Guy Picciotto - ? // Jason Farrell - Artwork // Jem Cohen - Assembly // Jem Cohen - Text // Jem Cohen - Graphic Conception // Cynthia Connolly - Photography
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