Red Medicine

Each Fugazi album represents a break point in the band’s evolution—a chance for the band’s four members to explore a new skill or interest. The subsequent changes are never dramatic, but they’re definitely present—especially on 1995’s <i>Red Medicine</i>. After taking a break for much of 1994, Fugazi had regrouped, cut a whole mess of demos in Connecticut—some of which would later appear on 1999’s <i>Instrument Soundtrack</i>—and returned to D.C. feeling recharged and confident—and ready to start what would become the band’s second and final musical phase. Produced by the band members, <i>Red Medicine</i>—named after the stuff you take as a child—is the first broad expansion of Fugazi’s musical palette. There’s more musical detail here than ever before: The hard strumming on “Do You Like Me” sounds like furious, heavy indie-pop. Meanwhile, “Fell, Destroyed” is one of the group’s funkiest moments, with a quote from the legendary reggae artist Tenor Saw—“Ring the alarm”—being incorporated into a raw, melodic chorus. The album also finds Fugazi getting a bit cranky about alternative rock being used as a corporate marketing tool: On the epic noise-fest “By You”, bassist Joe Lally decries “Generation Fuck-you”, while “Target” finds Guy Picciotto declaring, “I hate the sound of guitars/A thousand grudging young millionaires.” Was that dig intended for a specific 90s alt-rock target, like Green Day? Or did Fugazi simply have beef with the major labels co-opting the underground? (The answer: Probably both). As it turned out, <i>Red Medicine</i> would become one of Fugazi’s most successful albums, peaking at No. 126 on Billboard’s album charts. Decades later, it stands as the group’s best-sounding effort—one that often tops Fugazi fans’ favourite-album lists.