Fugazi - Red Medicine Review

Fugazi Red Medicine

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full review

Tracklist:
1. Do You Like Me
2. Bed for the Scraping
3. Latest Disgrace
4. Birthday Pony
5. Forensic Scene
6. Combination Lock
7. Fell, Destroyed
8. By You
9. Version
10. Target
11. Back to Base
12. Downed City
13. Long Distance Runner

Ranking: #22 for 1995

user rating

4.1
excellent

Chart.

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On 18 Lists

4.0
excellent

Jared W. Dillon STAFF (110 Reviews)

2007-06-14 | 19 comments | 1,495 views

Summary: The sun moves on a stick. The moon on a hook.

"Red Medicine" is a NEW Fugazi, the sound of progress and experimentation. From the first moments of the record, the band clearly shows they are entering a new phase: "Do You Like Me?" is one of their most complex, and emotional tracks. Sure, the Lally bass lines are present and Guy's snarl is no more consistent than always but the feeling of the music has changed. Fugazi are far removed from the outcast lost boys of the hardcore scene and are now taking up the title of "alternative rock". Moments like the clarinet-playing in "Version" and the effect-ridden vocals of "Combination Lock" are different from any other in Fugazi's history and, most importantly, focused in studio production.

"Red Medicine" shows the foursome from D.C. realizing what they can fully do with studio production and also what they can do with atmosphere. Guy's slurred singing on "Latest Disgrace" is something new and removed from the previous "In On the Kill Taker" which was founded in the abstract aggression of noise. "Kill Taker" Fugazi is still an evident force on "Red Medicine" but the band is taking the steps to vary their sound. The approach to guitar has begun to change, with more thoughts put into techniques and phrasing than riffing, and "Red Medicine's" lasting value is extended because of it.

While "Red Medicine" is far removed from "13 Songs", the added experimentation of the record does little to dull Fugazi's essential beginning. The variety of tracks and styles found on this record is something that the early incarnation of Fugazi couldn't even dream of, but the power that was behind that group is still intact. "Red Medicine's" highlights might not be as strong as Fugazi's previous records but the strength of the album as a whole is probably second only to "The Argument". Tracks like "Forensic Scene" leave the listener in a realm of black-and-white confusion in their blunt force and emotion. With "Red Medicine", Fugazi had harnessed their strengths to make their finest structured album yet. But the group certainly would change that prospect in the years to come.

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