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The Argument

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Fugazi

 
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The Argument
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Avg: 4.0 (398 ratings)

The greatest band from Washington, D.C.'s greatest album. There's no question that you need this.

  • We Say...

    Review by Yancey Strickler

    If the Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto of 13 Songs and Repeater had been offered a glimpse into their future, it's hard to tell how they would have reacted. Would MacKaye have recognized his own voice, softened with age? How would Picciotto feel about Fugazi's shift from strident punk-rock to relatively subtle post-hardcore? The evolution is not total, certainly — the verses to The Argument's "Full Disclosure" could have appeared on Red Medicine — but the bookends to The Argument, arguably Fugazi's finest album, are striking in their subtleties and intricacy.

    "Cashout," which basically sets the stage for all that MacKaye has done with his excellent other band, the Evens, could only come from DC. It strongly recalls the early work by neighbors Q & Not U, for example, and the push and pull between the verses (where MacKaye's tense voice at times hums along with the backing guitars) and the chorus (unleashed, but still with cello buttressing the melody) just straight slays; drummer Brendan Canty's little snare stutter-beat and Joe Lally's head-nodding bass line make it almost funk-like. There's never been another song like it in the Fugazi discography.

    Then there's "Life and Limb," Picciotto pirouetting on the apocalypse, again the rhythm section incredibly tight and restrained, matching Picciotto's breathy sighs in self-discipline. A sense of maddening control drives The Argument, and even now, after hearing this album hundreds of times, I find it startling. "The Kill," "Strangelight," "Ex-Spectator," and "Argument" all feeling just as much like tests of will as they do absolutely incredible songs.

    And how incredible is "Argument"? Here's the (pre-9/11) opening lyric: "When they start falling/ Executions will commence," which is intro'd by a gorgeous little swirl of percussion and rich guitar tones. And that middle eight! Piano and strings from the bottom of the ocean, the song bubbling back up, MacKaye murmuring, "I'm on a mission/ To never agree," and then the fuse is ignited, the guitars sparked, and MacKaye's ohm-like intonation: "Here comes the argument… Here comes the argument… Here comes…"

  • They Say...

    Review by Chris True, All Music Guide

    It's unfortunate that a band so forward looking as Fugazi has been criticized over and over for not remaking "Waiting Room" or "Repeater." Some have called them sellouts, regardless of the band's integrity and class, while others consider them elitists, "guiding" the Washington, D.C., scene. This could not be further from the truth. As the film and soundtrack to Instrument proved, this is a band that is only concerned with musical growth, with each album improving on its predecessor. But no album they have put together has the jump ahead that The Argument has. Being both ear-shattering and spine-tingling at once, this is Fugazi at their "musical" best. Incorporating melody with texture and their signature angular approach, the band has raised the bar for themselves and others once again. The first "full" track, "Cashout" (an anti-gentrification anthem), is classic stuff, with a subtle guitar line exploding into a screaming chorus, but this time there is less of an emphasis on the screaming and more on the gentle melody of the verse. Slower tracks like "The Kill" and "Life and Limb" touch on strange new territory. Gentle with sense of swagger, these songs lack none of the power that the band is known for, while the two-drum assault of "Ex-Spectator" (courtesy of Brendan Canty and second drummer Jerry Busher) has just as much potency on disc as it does live. And the final song, "Argument," with its rolling guitar lines, dreamy breakdown, and vocals that build from gentle to screaming, may be the best closer on a Fugazi record since "Promises." Listeners may be surprised to hear strings open up the record, or piano guiding the brilliant "Strangelight," but this is the album that proves once and for all that Fugazi has become a purely musical force. Fifteen years in and Fugazi is still progressing. It makes one wonder what they're capable of in the future.

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