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Trollheart · 11-25-2016, 09:20 AM

Time to step into the Unbelievably Stupid and Blinkered World of Young Trollheart again, as I reveal that though I had never listened to this band, I resented them because they were using the name chosen by Marillion for their second album. It was only the second time I had heard the word, so I assumed they had stolen it from Fish and the boys. Of course, it has its origins in the Vietnam War, where it was a GI acronym for Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In. And so we begin the discography of

Album title: Repeater
Artiste: Fugazi
Genre: Post-Hardcore
Year: 1990
Label: Dischord
Producer: Fugazi, Ted Niceley
Chronological position: Debut album
Notes:
Album chart position: Unknown
Singles: None
Lineup:
Ian MacKaye: Vocals, guitar, piano
Guy Picciotti: Vocals, guitar
Joe Lally: Bass
Brendan Canty: Drums

Review begins

With a sort of wailing guitar chord we head into the opening track, “Turnover”, which has a nice sort of midpaced tempo to it, vocals (shared between Guy Picciotto and Ian MacKaye) are this first time out courtesy of the former, with a sort of raw, harsh quality but very understandable. Quite a catchy song really, with a lot of power and aggression but still almost commercial in its feel. Not anywhere near as radio-friendly is the title track, on which the vocals are switched to MacKaye, whose style I don't feel as attracted to. This is closer to what I would think of as punk, whereas the previous track was more indie rock, maybe. This feels very raw, the percussion is kind of hollow, tumbly? I assumed with a title like “Brendan #1” this would be a drum solo. It kind of is, but more an instrumental really. It's quite good, in fairness.

“Merchandise” takes us back into the realm of MacKaye's singing, and has that sharp, snappy punk feel to it. Not feeling it here guys, not at all. Much prefer the more laidback style of “Blueprint”, with its softer guitar intro and the harsh, powerful but somehow more palatable vocal of Picciotto. I really like the riff in this. I see he's on the lead vocal for the next three tracks, which is good, though I have to admit “Sieve-fisted find” (?) sounds more like your other man. Like the guitar in it, but it's again a little bit chaotic. I also don't hear, so far, any piano, though it's credited. Maybe later. Good bassline here but overall I'm not as impressed with this track as I was with the one that preceded it. And “Greed” is just terrible, a total mess. I'm almost wishing for MacKaye to come back. Almost.

Sounds like “Two beats off” might be better. Very simple, acoustic style guitar then electric kicks it up, and a lovely scratchy bassline. Not an awful lot in it though, and “Styrofoam” doesn't do it for me either. It's all just a little too shouty and raw. I was getting into some of the tracks, but overall the album is not winning me over. Think I finally hear the piano on “Reprovisional”, could be wrong though. It's a better track overall than most of the more recent ones, good melody running through it. That brings us to the final track, perhaps appropriately titled “Shut the door”, where things seem to slow down for the first time I think on the album. Oh but it doesn't stay that way. What a surprise. The vocal is pretty manic, and seems to concern someone having accidentally killed someone when he says “She's not breathing! She's not moving! She's not coming back!” so I guess that would be appropriate. Nice bass in the midsection then a pretty cool guitar solo before the end.

TRACK LISTING AND RATINGS

Turnover
Repeater
Brendan #1
Merchandise
Blueprint
Sieve-fisted find
Greed
Two beats off
Styrofoam
Reprovisional
Shut the door

Afterword: Not quite what I expected, though to be honest I'm so unversed in hardcore or post-hardcore that I would not really have had a clue what to expect. Little too raw for me, too close to punk maybe. Some good tracks but as you'll see from the ratings above, not that many and there were so many that were simply Meh. Again, it's a debut album so maybe they improved, or, I should say, maybe I'll find them more palatable as the discography goes on, but for now, really not my particular cup of poison at all.

Rating:

11-25-2016, 09:20 AM	#3175 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,971	Time to step into the Unbelievably Stupid and Blinkered World of Young Trollheart again, as I reveal that though I had never listened to this band, I resented them because they were using the name chosen by Marillion for their second album. It was only the second time I had heard the word, so I assumed they had stolen it from Fish and the boys. Of course, it has its origins in the Vietnam War, where it was a GI acronym for Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In. And so we begin the discography of Album title: Repeater Artiste: Fugazi Genre: Post-Hardcore Year: 1990 Label: Dischord Producer: Fugazi, Ted Niceley Chronological position: Debut album Notes: Album chart position: Unknown Singles: None Lineup: Ian MacKaye: Vocals, guitar, piano Guy Picciotti: Vocals, guitar Joe Lally: Bass Brendan Canty: Drums Review begins With a sort of wailing guitar chord we head into the opening track, “Turnover”, which has a nice sort of midpaced tempo to it, vocals (shared between Guy Picciotto and Ian MacKaye) are this first time out courtesy of the former, with a sort of raw, harsh quality but very understandable. Quite a catchy song really, with a lot of power and aggression but still almost commercial in its feel. Not anywhere near as radio-friendly is the title track, on which the vocals are switched to MacKaye, whose style I don't feel as attracted to. This is closer to what I would think of as punk, whereas the previous track was more indie rock, maybe. This feels very raw, the percussion is kind of hollow, tumbly? I assumed with a title like “Brendan #1” this would be a drum solo. It kind of is, but more an instrumental really. It's quite good, in fairness. “Merchandise” takes us back into the realm of MacKaye's singing, and has that sharp, snappy punk feel to it. Not feeling it here guys, not at all. Much prefer the more laidback style of “Blueprint”, with its softer guitar intro and the harsh, powerful but somehow more palatable vocal of Picciotto. I really like the riff in this. I see he's on the lead vocal for the next three tracks, which is good, though I have to admit “Sieve-fisted find” (?) sounds more like your other man. Like the guitar in it, but it's again a little bit chaotic. I also don't hear, so far, any piano, though it's credited. Maybe later. Good bassline here but overall I'm not as impressed with this track as I was with the one that preceded it. And “Greed” is just terrible, a total mess. I'm almost wishing for MacKaye to come back. Almost. Sounds like “Two beats off” might be better. Very simple, acoustic style guitar then electric kicks it up, and a lovely scratchy bassline. Not an awful lot in it though, and “Styrofoam” doesn't do it for me either. It's all just a little too shouty and raw. I was getting into some of the tracks, but overall the album is not winning me over. Think I finally hear the piano on “Reprovisional”, could be wrong though. It's a better track overall than most of the more recent ones, good melody running through it. That brings us to the final track, perhaps appropriately titled “Shut the door”, where things seem to slow down for the first time I think on the album. Oh but it doesn't stay that way. What a surprise. The vocal is pretty manic, and seems to concern someone having accidentally killed someone when he says “She's not breathing! She's not moving! She's not coming back!” so I guess that would be appropriate. Nice bass in the midsection then a pretty cool guitar solo before the end. TRACK LISTING AND RATINGS Turnover Repeater Brendan #1 Merchandise Blueprint Sieve-fisted find Greed Two beats off Styrofoam Reprovisional Shut the door Afterword: Not quite what I expected, though to be honest I'm so unversed in hardcore or post-hardcore that I would not really have had a clue what to expect. Little too raw for me, too close to punk maybe. Some good tracks but as you'll see from the ratings above, not that many and there were so many that were simply Meh. Again, it's a debut album so maybe they improved, or, I should say, maybe I'll find them more palatable as the discography goes on, but for now, really not my particular cup of poison at all. Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018