In Tune with Dischord

by Hilary Crowe

D.C. is said by many to be an amazing city with plenty to do, but some people spend more money than some college students earn in a month on the clichéd weekend outing of $20 entrees, a $9 movie, and maybe $5 lattes or $7 cocktails. After the 9-to-5 government employees trickle out of the marble sepulchers on the Hill and the Smithsonian Institution’s interesting, free museums close cruelly at 6 p.m., what’s one to do? Pierre L’Enfant may have built D.C. in 1791, and politics may have put it on the map, but Ian MacKaye has been making it inhabitable, hospitable and youth-friendly since 1980.

That hospitality begins with the much-esteemed Dischord Records, started by MacKaye and former band-mate Jeff Nelson of Minor Threat. MacKaye, Nelson, and their bevy of bands have been packing basements, house parties, and eventually clubs like the 9:30 and the Black Cat since the Teen Idles’ Minor Disturbance EP – known as Dischord Records #1 – was released in 1980. For more than a quarter century, Dischord has been the vanguard of D.C.’s independent music, home to seminal (for scenes both inside and outside the Beltway) bands like Fugazi and Rites of Spring. While it is not the only independent record label in the District, it is certainly the most widely recognized and well respected, advocating affordable all-ages shows and selling albums for just $10. MacKaye, Nelson and friends continue in this vein, producing quality artists with enviable ethos well into the 21st century and they show no sign of slowing down.

While the label’s catalogue stretches way back to the Reagan administration, here are three Dischord signatories to watch and listen to between now and the next administration.

Joe Lally, There to Here (October 2006)
Lally’s first solo effort has been well received, to say the least. Perhaps only known as the bassist for Fugazi, There to Here has propelled him out of the shadow of MacKaye and his band-mate in Fugazi’s rhythm section, Guy Picciotto. That’s not to say that Fugazi fans would be disappointed; Lally's bluesy, jazzy, soulful music is welcomed and revered all the more for such a departure. Lally’s raw yet smooth vocals are the standout on his songs, but his fluid bass line is a close second. Most interestingly, Lally’s record is not representative of his captivating musicianship; Lally has no concrete backing band, the line-up and sound changing with each time zone. Currently, Lally’s sound is peppered with a smattering of Zu, an Italian indie band, as they tour Europe. That said, the record is still a beautiful blueprint of the live Lally experience, with MacKaye, Picciotto, and Amy Farina (The Warmers, The Evens) filling in as the home-town abstraction. Lally’s album is a huge achievement, proving Fugazi was great because all of its members were immensely talented, and this release should tide you over until he returns to the continent. At the very least, it’ll leave you wondering where this sinewy, pasty D.C. dude got so much soul.

The Evens, The Evens (March 2005), Get Evens (November 2006)
MacKaye has been in more bands than anyone can keep up with, all distinctive in their own right, no matter how short-lived. The Evens, however, seem to be MacKaye’s mature stab at a lasting band, apparently unable to quiet his muse during Fugazi’s indefinite hiatus. MacKaye and Farina make political rock with cheekily creative lyrics, yanking the current administration off its pedestal and smacking them around a bit, all in good fun. A forceful sonic beating never hurt anyone, and Farina’s drumming sets the pace, varying and calculated, for MacKaye’s emphatic acoustic strumming. Elements of Fugazi and The Warmers are evident, but the combination of both is a lethal injection of newly eye-opening cerebral rock. Though MacKaye and Farina can be spotted at various venues, scouting local talent or supporting a friend, The Evens won’t be stepping into the spotlight for at least a little while; they’ll be touring in Australia and New Zealand until March. Hopefully they’ll plan a brief show or two for homegrown fans in the not-so-distant future.

The Aquarium, The Aquarium (October 2006)
Keyboardist Jason Hutto and drummer Laura Harris rip through trippy, campy, nearly-psychedelic rock with such intensity and epic cacophony that you forget there’s only two people behind it all. Their eponymous debut is impressive both on-record and on-stage, but their live shows are also accompanied with a silent film back-drop, most recently a documentary about life in the Andes, that is comical in its contribution to the music’s mood. That’s not to say that it takes away from their incredible musicianship – Harris seems to have an endless supply of energy for such a petite woman and could easily play any other drummer under the table. Hutto is inanely adept at playing the electric piano as if it were an electric guitar, at times pounding out melodies more ominous than Black Sabbath ever dreamed up. But those moments are juxtaposed with sing-song geek rock and shoegaze, mixing up the set and commanding the listener’s undivided attention. Ultimately, this duo doesn’t take itself too seriously, but then again how could you, playing a Wurlitzer in front of a lumbering alpaca? Luckily, you may have the chance to experience this act sometime soon if you’re in the D.C. area; keep an eye on smaller local venues.

(Promotional photo of The Evens from Dischord Records. Check below to see Joe Lally playing "The Resigned" live in São Paulo, Brazil.)



music
rock music
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