13 Songs

Tea pairing: Blueberry tea with sugar

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What do singer-songwriters Eddie Vedder and Jack Johnson have in common other than that they are both musicians? Well, a lot probably, but I am talking about how they both cite Fugazi’s epic 1989 release 13 Songs as one of their all time favorite albums. Now, that is kind of a shocker considering one of the two has written a song called “Banana Pancakes”, but I digress.

The reason why these two, alongside riot grrl legend Kathleen Hanna and a slew of other musicians have labeled 13 Songs as one of their favorites because it is a stellar album featuring two hardcore legends; Guy Picciotto and Ian MacKaye.

As if that wasn’t enough, the album is filled with a jittery and frenetic blend of punk, hardcore, alternative, and funk that Andy Kellman of Allmusic said is a “bakers dozen of cannon shots to the gut.” It has been just over 30 years since the album was released, but still to this day 13 Songs is still lauded as one of the best releases within the post-hardcore genre.

While actually a compilation, 13 Songs is comprised of Fugazi’s first two EPs, Fugazi from 1988, and Margin Walker from 1989. Despite its status as a compilation album, 13 Songs has more than enough power and energy to be considered an album of its own. One of the collections most notable tracks, “Waiting Room”, is an artfully crafted album opener that blends elements of punk, funk, and early hip-hop.

Hip-hop? Isn’t this an emo blog? Yes it is, and I am fully aware 13 Songs is not a true emo record. It is a hardcore record through and through that lent has itself to alternative rock and grunge. And emo, in ways.

Fugazi was a beautiful mishmash of numerous musicians who made their bones in the burgenoning D.C. hardcore scene, and having the primary singers and songwriters come from numerous hardcore and emo groups makes its partial emo label not entirely misplaced.

“Waiting Room” is a fantastic song that bounces with energy and features a great balance of vocals between Picciotto and MacKaye. But 30 plus years on, 13 Songs is still able to have intensely applicable and poignant lyrics and that is through the powerful track “Suggestion.”

“Suggestion” is a song that details the objectification women face from men while just walking down the street. Having just escaped the clutches of an outrageously misogynistic president (you know who), it is not at all hard to see the disgusting way men, and society, portray women.

And even though the song itself is powerful, it's more so when you learn MacKaye wrote it after it was his friend, Amy Pickering, who experienced the incident described in the song. In 1991, Fugazi performed the song at the Sacred Heart Church Hall with Pickering singing the verses, “Why can’t I walk down a street, free of suggestion?/Why can’t I walk down a street, free of suggestion?/Is my body my only trait in the eyes of men?/I’ve got some skin. Do you want to look in?/There lays no reward in what you discover/You spent yourself boy, watching me suffer/Suffer your words, suffer your eyes, suffer your hands/Suffer your interpretation of what it is to be a man”.

She crushes the lines and the message of the song transcends music and the venue. This is a punk moment that still holds power today, even when we think we’ve moved beyond such dreadful behavior.

13 Songs is a truly remarkable collection of songs from one of the most remarkable hardcore bands to date, and their influence and importance cannot be overstated. I have been happily enjoying their songs for a while now, but I have found myself more entrenched in their work since I have explored the emo and hardcore scenes more.

With the unbeatable duo of Picciotto and MacKaye where wit, intelligence, anger, and passion reigned supreme, Fugazi was able to craft furious bits of punk art that have crept their way into the modern rock genre.

Just go and listen to 13 Songs if you have not already, and if you have then go and listen to it again. Do I really need to sell you this record anymore?