Did everything really go to shit as soon as Fugazi went on indefinite hiatus in 2003? As my wife - a scientist - is fond of saying, it seems like a case of correlation rather than causation. But JR Moores is not one to shy away from a grand thesis (even a tongue-in-cheek one) - and who's to say he's not got a point?
Not that any excuse should be needed, but the documentary WE ARE FUGAZI FROM WASHINGTON D.C. has prompted him to pick one song from each Fugazi release for praise for a Quietus article - from the lyrically controversial 'Suggestion' to the wonderful 'Epic Problem' from swansong LP The Argument, via (among others) End Hits' 'Pink Frosty', which is "as if Fugazi were trying to deconstruct themselves back down into virtual silence".
I'm one of those for whom 1993's In On The Kill Taker is the "triumphant apex" - as good as what came after is - so I don't buy Moores' narrative that each album was an improvement on the last. But what's undeniable is that, unlike so many other artists, they never settled into comfortable complacency. Quite the opposite - they sought to escape the hardcore straitjacket and grew admirably more uncompromisingly ambitious with every release.
Which is part of why he's right to be fearful of a reformation. Commiserations/apologies to anyone who didn't see them first time around, but I hope they're never tempted to step back into the limelight.
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