A Year of Music

Likewise, Guy Picciotto has had a long and varied career with the DC hardcore scene and is also well-represented on Twenty Years of Dischord Records. There are tracks from Rites of Spring, One Last Wish and Happy Go Licky (and, of course, Fugazi, the reason anyone under the age of 25 knows who Guy Picciotto is). Happy Go Licky were interesting. They put out one single, and De Soto Records released a compilation of live and demo material long after they broke up. There’s lots of pointless experimental wankery with the 4-track, but there’s also “Twist and Shout”, which is spooky, tense and restrained. It’s more like a lost Factory b-side than anything from the DC punk scene. I could listen to it all night.

Of course, Twenty Years also features “Blueprint”, which is still probably my favorite Fugazi song, along with being one of the three or four I can play when I feel like screwing around with one of my guitars.

Man, this compilation is just packed full of goodies. And I haven’t even gotten to Slant 6 or Autoclave yet.

I’m listening to Twenty Years of Dischord Records, and since it’s, like, the DiY label Ian Mackaye started to release his own music, there’s a lot of his stuff all over it. Dude was in a lot of bands (Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Skewbald, Egg Hunt, Embrace, Fugazi, etc.), and his evolution was pretty linear, but there’s stuff like The Snakes’ “Snake Rap” popping out of the mix with a very high WTF?! factor. Hearing Mackaye and his friends rapping about snakes is, of course, extremely silly. The backing track is still some pretty convincing funk, though.

I used to have a very strong belief that every American child should be handed a copy of Minor Threat’s Complete Discography upon reaching 15 or 16 years of age. 20 years later, I see no reason to change that belief. “Screaming at a Wall” still slices through bullshit with ease. The only punk tracks that come close to it in clarity and righteousness are Bad Brains’ “PMA” and Flux of Pink Indians’ “They Lie We Die”.

Oh, and the rest of Minor Threat’s catalog.