Fugazi - End Hits (1998)

Scary -- "Closed Captioned" through "Foreman's Dog" provides the worst stretch of material Fugazi have recorded, full of disjointed patches and awkward moments. There's a virtually complete disregard for linearity that makes things seem stitched together, rather than the seamlessness you've grown accustomed to. Within that chunk and various points in the remainder, the arrangements sound like they're on the verge of collapse, and not in a violently riveting manner. One thing comes to mind, and that's boredom -- perhaps not for the artists involved, but likely for the listener. There are some great moments, however, so End Hits only dips its toes in failure. The epileptic "Lust for Life"-style "Five Corporations" has the riffs and rage, with Ian MacKaye taking the music industry to task for being the slow, incestuously festering beast that it is. Though the band seems to lack the stamina for instrumental wowing it once had, the songwriting is still there. On point as always, MacKaye remains lyrically immolated: "Check the math here/Check in ten years/Clusterf*ck theory/Buy them up and shut them down/Then repeat in every town/Every town will be the same." Nigh on two decades of punk army service, MacKaye is still far away from running out of relevant things to say. Other highlights include "Break" and "Place Position." MacKaye and Picciotto's mantra-like barking of "yawn yawn yawn" during the latter could stop you to think, "Wait, that was kind of funny," amidst all the fist-pumping. Altogether, the least of the band's LPs so far; yes kids, even Fugazi make mistakes. A minor blebby, it's nothing to disown the band for.