Intro
01 Oct 2021 marks the release of the highly-anticipated two-volume benefit comp Silence is a Dangerous Sound – A Tribute to Fugazi. The Fugazi-sanctioned collection is released by Scottish DIY label Ripcord Records on double CD or digital download, and 100% of the proceeds will go to Tribe Animal Sanctuary Scotland.
Fugazi arguably ranks up there as one of the most influential “punk” bands of all time. They've definitely left their mark and influence on countless acts across multiple genres. With that in mind, four TGEFM staffers and a guest contributor, all big Fugazi fans, listened to the tribute and have engaged in a track-by-track commentary. This is the second of three parts to be published today, covering the first 17-33 on the comp.
Disk 1 (cont.)
Track 17: Glass Bones – “Place Position”
Julie River – Did this song really need to be covered? I appreciate that this is a Fugazi tribute but is every single Fugazi song worthy of covering? I found the original song to be rather lackluster. This cover has better production, and, miraculously, a singer with a more unusual singing voice than Guy Picciotto, but other than that this changes very little.
Jim – I thought this was a Fugazi comp, not a Joy Division comp. I don't know Glass Bones, they did an admirable job of playing the song in their style. Nothing particularly new about their version.
Gregnaha – This is a standout Fugazi track for me on what I think is their best album. Not sure I agree that the production is better, but I think the acoustic guitar is an interesting choice.
Jeff Sorley – Julie, yes. Each. And. Every. One. (laughter)
Track 18: Chamberlain “Runaway Return”
Julie – I feel like the original version of this song is tedious and repetitive. We get it, you're out of the ashtray or into the ashtray. I don't need to hear about it for four minutes. Chamberlain does some interesting things with this like the backing vocals at the beginning and the melodic turn towards the end. But the best thing they could have done with this song was chop a full minute off of it.
Greg – Chamberlain's singer is not as good as he thinks he is. The right move with this would have been to do more with the band and less with the vocals
Jeff – Funnily, Chamberlain's cover is actually longer than the original track. (laughter)To be honest, I'm not really a fan of the original one and, I guess, Chamberlain does enough to make this more bearable. I'm not sure about to make about that singer comment, though. Sound good enough for me. (laughter)
Jim – Definitely they play the song faithfully while staying true to the band's sound category. See previous entry for Glass Bones. Nothing inspiring about this cover. Technically the band sounds great.
Track 19: Viva Belgrado “Repeater”
Julie – “Repeater” is probably Fugazi's most accessible song after “Waiting Room,” being probably the closest thing to a traditional punk song in their repertoire. Viva Belgrado does some interesting things with the vocals but otherwise it's pretty much the same as the original.
Greg – The first half of this song is actually quite a lot different than the original. It's a fun spin on the song. The ending noisy bits are quite the same but I like this cover a lot.
Jim -Very faithful reproduction here. Are these guys French? “Where do you think I got this outrageous accent?” I don't want to be taunted. I need to build a large badger. Nothing special here, it sounds like they are trying to play the song exactly like the original.
Track 20: Cashout “Frauds”
Tyler Barrett – Hailing from the Midwest, I'm accustomed to ambivalently describing anything about which I'm uncertain as “…interesting.” Case in point, UK duo Frauds trying their darndest to convincingly cover the rich and brooding “Cashout” with limited personnel at their disposal. The pros: it's far from a copy and they certainly put their own spin on it. The cons: it's missing the legato musicianship the original shrewdly stacked over a hip-hop breakbeat. It's a somber song of displacement the cover doesn't quite capture. But still, it's interesting.
Jim – I like the opener with the muffled drums. Low fi and Fugazi go hand in hand. They don't really broach new ground, but it's fresh and different enough to get your attention. Frauds pretty much nailed the concept here, a standout track for me.
Julie – I love The Argument, so every song off that album I'm able to scrutinize a little bit more. I love “Cashout” but I've always thought of it as less of a song in its own right and more like the overture for the album, along with the intro track of course. I've criticized a lot of bands on this comp for not doing enough to the original, but I have to agree with Tyler on this one. Points for making it different, but this cover just made me want to go back and listen to the original instead.
Greg – The drums are the most interesting part of this cover but they just don't go anywhere.
Track 21: Seas, Starry “Brendan #1”
Julie – Covering an instrumental is really hard, especially if you're trying to make it your own without the lyrics as a reference point. So I give Seas, Starry credit for trying it. But really the main thing they did differently was slow the song way down, making it almost twice as long as the original. The reason I like the original is because it's light and breezy and making it longer kind of ruins that.
Greg – Totally agree. This doesn't comment on the original in any kind of meaningful way. The fun of the original is also a lot of digging into how damn tight Joe and Brendan were, and this cover totally dilutes the rhythm section.
Jim – This slower, liltier version is lulling me to sleep. I do need an afternoon nap. Let me just lay down on the couch for a minute. I'm just gonna close my eyes for…
Track 22: Couch Slut “Full Disclosure”
Tyler – I almost wrote this off from the band's name (yeah, sorry, still don't love it) but this may be my favorite track on the comp. They captured what makes the original compelling—the Jekyll and Hyde relationship between verse and chorus—and added some gainly flourish with the staccato guitar of the verse and layered vocal harmonies in the chorus. It'll remind you why you love the original without merely reproducing it.
Jeff – I agree. I think they hew pretty closely to the original, but spread the Jekyll and Hyde a bit more apart than the original. Couch Slut (best name ever, right Tyler?) bring the guitars up and the vocals down a bit and I think it heightens that dichotomy, making the chorus possibly even more effective than the original. It's a stellar cover.
Julie – I'm not really hearing what the two of you are. I didn't find it to be different enough from the original and I didn't really hear anything that elevates the song.
Jim – I totally forgot about this song. I loved this song off of the Argument. Thank you Couch Slut (this is the first time I've said that. I swear.) Fairly faithful rendition. They put enough of their noise and energy in it to make it their own. I like the glossy guitars, the noisy interludes. Stand out track for sure.
Tyler – I think it may be similar to the Pet Symmetry track where the modern production effects a little more energy. On the cover, you can really hear every layer of guitar (at least with headphones) and on the original, a slightly muddier recording made some of its nuances harder to perceive.
Jeff – “…a slightly muddier recording made some of its nuances harder to perceive.” Listening through this set of covers, and then re-listening to the originals, I'm getting a feeling we could say this about a lot of these… (laughter).
Greg – Totally agree with you Tyler about the band name. Interesting to hear folks saying that Argument has any muddiness at all.
I hear that record as extremely crisp and extremely well mixed and nuanced. Out of curiosity is anyone else listening to Fugazi regularly on vinyl as opposed to mp3? They're a rare band that I think actually consciously mixes for the format.
I don't have any beef with the cover, it didn't do enough for me though, and just left me wanting to go listen to the original again.
Tyler – I just have The Argument on CD—and maybe muddy isn't exactly the right word because overall I agree that record is probably their most crisp. But when you play the original and the cover back to back, to my ears at least, the lead guitar in the verse is much more audible or prominent and the chorus just seems to hit harder in the cover. Distinct possibility I'm subconsciously giving them undue credit for pleasantly surprising me given their name though.
Greg – Oooo interesting. I have to wonder if my ears have just over analyzed the recordings too much. Fugazi is one of my all time favorite bands and I've spent a lot of time micro-analyzing every detail (don't get me started on the live archive), so sometimes I wish I could hear something with fresh ears and see how much actually jumps out at me
Disk 2
Track 23: Failure “Waiting Room”
Julie – Here we are with probably Fugazi's most popular and easily accessible song, so Failure have a lot of pressure on them for this cover. Luckily, they did an excellent job. The bass sounds just a touch more funky and the addition of the keyboard at the end adds a really nice melody that the original doesn't have. It's a pretty perfect example of making it your own while staying true to the original.
Greg – Agreed that the keyboard additions are really cool. The bassist isn't doing a lot for me. I just wish this rhythm section was tighter
Tyler – Yeah I have to imagine a few bands were hoping to land this in the song selection lottery or however they divvied up the covers. About halfway through I thought this was going to go overboard with all the embellishments but I think it ended up being tasteful with the modifications, and they worked fairly well. Not sure it tops Mustard Plug as my favorite “Waiting Room”'cover but I like it.
Jim – Big shoes to fill here. One of my favorite (and most people's I think) Fugazi songs. Faithful reproduction in the band's style. Been there. For Failure, I get it, they're known and they have a style. Not wowing me, I'll take the original.
Greg – I think I like this more than the Mustard Plug version. I really love the commitment on the Mustard Plug track but his vocals just really lose me. I am curious to know how the covers were chosen for this. I'm glad they didn't allow bands to do the same songs, sparing us that mega Metallica cover album
Track 24: Nathan Gray “Bed for the Scraping”
Julie – Not a huge difference, but I feel like the louder, clearer vocals gives this song a little more energy and makes it a little more fun.
Jeff – I agree. Not much of a difference aside from a fuller, more robust sound. Nathan Gray lends a deeper, more gravelly voice than Ian can provide (Ian can yell, but Nathan seems more like he's growling… too good effect). Not the most creative of covers, but obviously not the most note for note either. Kudos for just being fun to listen to.
Greg – The “what else is there to do?” really doesn't land. This approach – the palm muted guitars especially – feel very clinical and without any meaningful kind of energy.
Track 25: GILT “No Surprise”
Jim – It blows my mind that I know songs I didn't know I knew. I didn't have this album, but I know the song. Gilt comes heavy on this one. Female vocals, I like it, equal opportunity. Good build up to screaming at the end. Solid.
Julie – Bands with femme vocalists seem to have an unfair advantage on this comp because it creates the illusion that they changed more than they did. Not that GILT did nothing with this cover, they made it darker and grungier, which is great. But the vocals make a huge difference.
Jeff – (Laughter) ALL WOMEN ARE CHEATERS! (just kidding, just kidding)
I can totally see what you mean by this and agree. I mean, trading Guy's vocals for a femme vocalist often works really well regardless, but GILT also really bring those vocals into the foreground much more than the original, where they blend into the music a lot more. I'm not a fan of the original and, to be honest, not a fan of the cover. But that's more due to personal taste. I think GILT made a good cover, just not one that I wouldn't be inclined to enjoy unless the song was radically reimagined.
Greg – This is a funny take, and I'd agree but I feel like most of the femme vocalists across this comp did more work than the male vocalists… This is a hard track to cover but I think they do a good job. I like it a lot and I really like the approach to the guitar melody at the end.
Track 26: Swain “The Argument”
Julie– Aside from a couple flourishes and pronouncing the word “argument” as “argumaunt” there's not much that Swain did with this cover to make it their own.
Jeff – I'm not sure I can agree. Sure, it is pretty note for note on most parts, but I think the vocal inflections come across pretty well. If this is the Swain I'm thinking of, they're a Dutch band, which could account for the accent on some of the lyrics. But I think the lead singer's more understated and scratchy voice add a lot to the song.
Greg – I actually really like this singer for this song. This is one of my favorite Fugazi songs BUT there's more than a couple moments in the original where you can tell that Ian is really struggling to hit the higher pitches. It's nice to hear this sung by someone more comfortable with the vocal range. The “here we go” at the end doesn't work so well though. My big beef with this cover is that the drummer just can't match how tight Brendan's fills on the original are.
Jim – This version pretty perfectly melds the concept of staying true to the original while maintaining your own sound. It's a pretty chill song, and this band is pretty chill, well paired. Definitely worth listening to, at least once.
Track 27: The Hostiles “Turnover”
Julie – A ska cover of Fugazi was the last thing I ever expected, and yet surprisingly it really works. The Hostiles make a song that I really wasn't crazy about to begin with into something fun, punchy, and most of all, mercifully much shorter than the original.
Jim– I can appreciate taking a fast song and making it faster. Horns. Ska. There's one troublemaker in every group.
Greg – I'm ALL ABOUT THIS. I wish the vocalist was a little less goofy about it but the harmonies in the horn section are A+ and the final vocal harmony is cool.
Jeff – I'm OK with the goofy singer. I would've preferred the ska elements were MORE present. Like, I understand the second guitar, but did they really need it? To me when it comes in it obscures the ska strokes on the first guitar (I know, I'm using highly technical language here…). I like it, it's fun. But I think they could've played it out for about another 30-40 seconds. It seems to end too quickly.
Track 28: This is Hell “Sieve-Fisted Find”
Julie – The original was pretty unremarkable and the cover doesn't really change much about that.
Greg – Big disagree about the original but this cover is just boring. I think if you're going to just do a straight ahead cover it also has to remember what makes the original special, and This Is Hell doesn't seem to achieve that
Jeff – I like the original, but I agree there's really not much here to make this cover This Is Hell's own… It's a fun song to listen to. It's isn't bad… but pretty much straight-forward in delivery.
Tyler – I'll depart a bit from the consensus here and say I actually liked this—admittedly, part of my amusement was in learning that This is Hell is still around. It's a tough cover partially due to the alternating singers, which isn't replicated particularly well here. But I thought they did a pretty good job transposing it from a jangly and kind of meandering number to a heavy (post?) hardcore jam. And I love the crisp, punchy percussion of the cover.
Jim – They had me with the little faster, heavier version. Gravelcore-ish vocals. They are sneaking all the genres in here. The vocals throw things out of whack. The instrumental parts work well!
Track 29: Into it. Over It. “Instrument”
Julie – This is a great cover in that it goes harder and faster than the original, cutting out some fat and tightening it up.
Greg – I like the beginning of this quite a bit but the vocal approach starting at the first “we need an instrument” really loses me. The rest of the cover loses the magic what was a really exciting beginning. This feels like a one idea cover and I wish there was more to it
Jeff – I'm gonna drop a bomb here and say that I like this cover a heck of a lot more than the original. The original is a terribly plodding song, and even sounds like Ian is just bored singing it. Here IIOI bring it up to a reasonable tempo to breathe new life into a song I find to pretty dull.
Jim – I dig that they go with the superfuzz bigmuff sound. Definitely a departure from the original. I'm a fan of IIOI. They demonstrate their relevance with this cover. A very solid mixture of faith to the original and their own milieu.
Track 30: LIFE “And the Same”
Julie – This song can be a little hard to cover because a few of the lines didn't age that well. It's one thing to be disdainful about political correctness and deny that race exists in 1989, but it means something very different in 2021. That being said, LIFE adds some really interesting elements here that make it their own, most notably the more dynamic vocals on this cover.
Greg – One could say that they…breathe new LIFE into it?!?!?!
But actually – I don't disagree with your point, but I think it's also worth mentioning that a widespread nuanced take on talking about race like that just wasn't a thing when Ian wrote this. I haven't heard him specifically talk about this song but I think the fact that he's very clearly said that there are songs he'd write in a different way now says a lot. There are also lots of Evens and even Coriky songs that address the same topics in a more nuanced and thoughtful way. Not to disagree with your point but just as an addendum.
Anyway I really like this cover. Very groovy and almost Talking Heads-esque. It kind of gives the song a cool laid backness that Fugazi almost never has.
Jim – Finally!! Someone taking artistic license!! LIFE arrived at the perfect time to breathe some life into this comp. They assuaged my concerns that every song would be a fairly faithful representation. Definitely a stand out track on the comp. They have rightfully earned further listening.
Track 31: Big Ups “Do You Like Me”
Greg – I appreciate the impulse to make this cover different from the original, which is mostly what I want from all these songs, but I wish they took it farther. This is just the original but played slowly. It made me wish this was a sludge track. The part that really got me though is the final bridge / outro with all the stops and the noise. I wish the whole song had more of that inventiveness. I don't know why they included the noise intro on clarinet. The noise interludes on Red Medicine work really well because they act as a framing device across the whole record, but don't make sense as a one off. I wish they had made it their own.
Jeff – I see what you're saying, but I'm not sure I entirely agree. I actually found the noise intro to be a bit of a kick. Like, having some fun considering that most (all?) Fugazi songs aren't really “fun” in the normal sense. I think the slower tempo Big Ups brings to the song, along with the lo-fi sound, make me think a lot of some bluesy rock band in some seedy roadside bar. I agree that the end likely is the most powerful part. Not the greatest cover, but good enough.
Greg – When Fugazi reunites for their “fun” record will they call it Fungazi? (laughter)
Julie – I have to agree with Jeff on this one. Even if it's a larger framing device in the album, the “fun” part of the original is that it starts out so outrageously noisy and experimental and then it flips a switch and immediately becomes a surprisingly conventional song for Fugazi. I feel like Big Ups captured that perfectly.
Track 32: ZAO “Guilford Fall”
Tyler – I think if I liked ZAO more I'd fully appreciate this because it is a good example of selecting the perfect song for a band's style and making it their own. The chunky guitars in the verse get heavier and the double-bass drum palpitations do their job to fully convert this from post-hardcore to metalcore. I would suspect anyone who happens to be a fan of both bands wouldn't be disappointed here.
JIm – I gotta check these guys out. Refreshing to get a screamo track snuck in here.
Julie – I don't know. To me the best part of the original was how delightfully weird it was and I feel like, in turning it into a metalcore song, it loses the weird.
Greg – I kind of like this but it would have been great to take a “Fugazi being weirdos song” and turn it back into “Fugazi being groovy,” even though that's not ZAO's thing it could've been interesting.
Track 33: Jonah Matranga “Suggestion”
Julie – This is a great song to begin with and Jonah Matranga really transforms this song with a soft electronic beat and contrasting masc/femme vocals. It makes me think of something like the Sneaker Pimps or The Teddybears. Very moody and atmospheric.
Greg – I'm all about this cover. Really cool transformation that still references actual musical material from the original. It goes really far in a new musical direction without divorcing itself from the source.
Jim – If Fugazi and Spandau Ballet went through a space/time portal and ended up on a two-dimensional planet. Kudos for going a completely inconceivable direction with this song. I don't think it stands on its own, but provides some variety on a comp that could use it.
Jeff – Yeah, this cover is pretty damn mind-blowing. I think it might be one of the most innovative covers in the whole collection.
And that's the end of part 2 of our track-by-track coverage. You can check out part 1, and part 3.
the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He's lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.