Dischord Records – June 12, 2020
The DC godfather remains Out of Step
Don’t tell the scene police, but I never cared for Minor Threat. “Blasphemy,” I know. Wait, wait, wait. Don’t pull out the punk rock rule book and revoke my charter just yet. I love and respect Ian MacKaye. While so many fans have been begging for Fugazi reunions, I’ve found myself very happy with The Evens. Luckily, the Dischord founder’s new project, Coriky, is reminiscent of whatever version of MacKaye you prefer.
Joining MacKaye on guitar are his wife, Amy Farina (The Evens) on drums, and Fugazi co-founder Joe Lally on bass. The three-piece shares vocal responsibilities. The members’ long-time collaboration in other incarnations makes this debut sound nothing like a debut. There is no uncertainty, only a full faith in each member to be able to take the reigns.
From the album’s opening number, “Clean Kill,” through the closer “Woulda Coulda,” you can hear the trust and respect between the bandmates. There are moments when the album sounds like Fugazi, moments when it channels The Evens. However you will be deeply disappointed if you go in expecting this to this to sound like a three piece version of The Evens, or a Fugazi album with Amy shoehorned into Guy Picciotto’s role.
As with most of MacKaye’s lyrics, Coriky is resolute in idealistic views, but there are cracks in the rose colored glasses here. On “Hard to Explain,” MacKaye sounds almost apathetic of the nature of online political debate when we hear “We speak in circles, no end in sight. Neither one of us will ever be right.”
“Inauguration Day” isn’t subtle in how it feels about the current administration, but the unintentional timeliness of the line, “One hundred thousand strong, standing out on the lawn. There’s some people here to see you, I don’t think they agree with you,” could easily be the soundtrack to the protests we have seen recently on Pennsylvania Ave.
Coriky’s debut brings the DC hardcore sound of the past to the present, updating MacKaye without losing the sound and fury that made him a founding father to so many scenes. When so many artists lose their edge after four decades in the scene, it is refreshing to know that the members of Coriky continue to sharpen each other’s blades.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
