Repeater (album)

Repeater
Studio album by Fugazi
Released	April 19, 1990 (1990-04-19)
Recorded	July–September 1989
Studio	Inner Ear Studios (Arlington, Virginia)
Genre	Post-hardcore[1]
Length	35:01 42:29 (Repeater + 3 Songs)
Label	Dischord
Producer	Fugazi Ted Niceley
Fugazi chronology
3 Songs (1989) Repeater (1990) Steady Diet of Nothing (1991)

Repeater is the full-length debut studio album by the American post-hardcore band Fugazi. It was released on April 19, 1990, as Repeater on LP, and in May 1990 on CD bundled with the 3 Songs EP as Repeater + 3 Songs. It was recorded at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia, and produced and engineered by Don Zientara and Ted Niceley.

Repeater is often regarded as a definitive album for the band and a landmark of rock music. It has been described as an "angrier American update of Gang of Four's Solid Gold." It has also been noted for its complex interplay of guitar and rhythm section.^[2] It is included in the book 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.^[3]

Background

By 1989, Fugazi had made the transition into jamming on and writing new material as a band as opposed to playing songs composed solely by singer/guitarist Ian MacKaye. After the completion of several lengthy U.S. and European tours, they began to work on new material as well as refining songs that they had already been performing live, such as "Merchandise" and "Turnover" - the latter of which was originally titled "NSA" in its original form - featuring MacKaye on vocals.^[4]

The band once again chose to work with both Don Zientara and Ted Niceley as they had previously, and entered Inner Ear Studios in July 1989 to begin the recording process.^[5] The group was only able to record with Niceley present between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. because Niceley was splitting his time between the studio and culinary school.^[5] Recording for the album was completed in September 1989.^[4]

The album cover was based on a photo by Jim Saah.

The album's subject matter addresses a wide variety of themes such as greed, violence, sexuality, privacy, drug abuse and death. MacKaye told Guitar World that the album title "is loaded on so many levels. It's actually about how things in life repeat over and over. But the title is also a rather obscure nod to The Beatles' Revolver. A record revolves and it also repeats. A revolver is also a gun, and so is a repeater. The title track is about kids repeatedly shooting each other and references the crack cocaine-related violence in Washington, D.C. in the 1980s."^[4][6]

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[7]
The Great Rock Discography	8/10[12]
Tom Hull	B[14]
MusicHound Rock	[10]
OndaRock	9/10[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	6/10[11]
The Village Voice	A−[9]

Released on April 19, 1990, through Dischord Records, Repeater did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success. However, the band spent most of 1990 and 1991 touring heavily, performing a total of 250 concerts between March 1990 and June 1991, routinely selling out 1,000+ capacity venues all over the world.

The Los Angeles Times stated that the band "mixes the raw independence of Black Flag and the political insistence of Gang of Four".^[15] The Washington Post concluded that Repeater "captures much of the band's passion and immediacy: the steel-spring rhythms of drummer Brendan Canty and bassist Joe Lally, the weaving, parrying and intersecting guitars and voices of Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, and the clear-eyed moral vision of its lyrics."^[16]

While major labels began to court Fugazi, the band decided that Dischord was distributing their records well enough and refused the offers.^[17] According to Alan O'Connor in his 2008 book Punk Record Labels and the Struggle for Autonomy: The Emergence of DIY, Repeater went on to sell 500,000 copies (based on an interview with Dischord Records).^[18]

Legacy

Influence

Repeater featured an alternative rock sound that predated significant releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten, which would unexpectedly go on to break the genre into the mainstream.^[4] Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine was influenced by the album,^[19] as were Steve Holmes of American Football and Metz.^[20][21] Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan named it one of his favorite records of all time.^[22]

The track "Merchandise" has been covered by Face to Face (on their album Standards & Practices), Ted Leo and the Pharmacists^[23] and Dogstar.^[24] "Blueprint" was covered by Gogol Bordello live,^[25] Ben Lee^[26] and Tim Timebomb.^[27] The track was quoted by the Knife on the track "Raging Lung" off of Shaking the Habitual.^[28] It has also been sampled by Emynd for Stranger Day's track "Not Playin'".^[29] "Styrofoam" has been covered by Stereotyperider.^[30] "Shut the Door" has been covered by Boy Eats Drum Machine.^[31]

Accolades

Publication	Country	Work	Accolade	Year	Rank
Spin	US	Repeater	The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)[32]	2015	70
			The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s[33]	1999	36
Alternative Press	US	Repeater	The 90 Greatest Albums of the 90's[34]	1998	23
Pitchfork	US	Repeater	Top 100 Albums of the 90s^[citation needed]	1999	52
			The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s[35]	2022	145
LostAtSea	US	Repeater	90 Albums of the 90s^[citation needed]	2000	51
Complex	US	Repeater	The Best Indie Rock Albums of the ’90s[36]	2013	15
Loudwire	US	Repeater	The Best Hard Rock Album of Each Year Since 1970[37]	2017	N/A
Consequence	US	Repeater	The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time[38]	2022	97
Kerrang!	UK	Repeater	The 100 Greatest Rock Albums^[citation needed]	2006	57
			The 50 Most Influential Albums Of All Time[39]	2003	7
Rockdelux	Spain	Repeater	The 300 Best Albums from 1984-2014^[citation needed]	2014	58
Pitchfork	US	"Repeater"	Top 200 Tracks of the 90s[40]	2010	58

Track listing

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Turnover"	Picciotto	4:16
2.	"Repeater"	MacKaye	3:01
3.	"Brendan #1"		2:32
4.	"Merchandise"	MacKaye	2:59
5.	"Blueprint"	Picciotto	3:52
6.	"Sieve-Fisted Find"	Picciotto	3:24
7.	"Greed"	MacKaye/Picciotto	1:47
8.	"Two Beats Off"	Picciotto	3:28
9.	"Styrofoam"	MacKaye	2:34
10.	"Reprovisional"	Picciotto	2:18
11.	"Shut the Door"	MacKaye	4:49

Personnel

Fugazi

• Brendan Canty – drums
• Joe Lally – bass
• Ian MacKaye – lead and backing vocals, guitar, piano
• Guy Picciotto – lead and backing vocals, guitar

Technical

• Ted Niceley – producer
• Don Zientara – engineer
• Jim Saah – photo
• Kurt Sayenga – design

See also

• Repeater (disambiguation)

References

1. Kellman, Andy. "Fugazi | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
2. Kellman, Andy. "Repeater – Fugazi". AllMusic. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
3. Moon, Tom. "Repeater". 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
4. ^ a b c d Perlah, Jeff. "The Independent". Guitar World. March 2002.
5. Batey, Angus (May 1, 2015). "Morning Glory: Fugazi's Repeater Revisited". The Quietus. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
6. Berman, Emily. "D.C. Residents Caught Among Crack's Bloody Turf Wars". Wamu.org.
7. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
8. Wolk, Douglas (2004). "Fugazi". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 315–16. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
9. Christgau, Robert (May 7, 1991). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
10. Graff, Gary (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (2nd ed.). Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
11. Weisbard, Eric (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide (1st ed.). Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
12. Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Canongate Books. ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
13. Claudio Lancia. "Fugazi". OndaRock. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
14. Tom Hull. "Grade List: fugazi". Tom Hull - on the Web. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
15. Hilburn, Robert (July 1, 1990). "Drum Roll, Please: The Mid-Year Top 10". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 63.
16. Jenkins, Mark (May 30, 1990). "Fugazi's Passionate Punk". The Washington Post. p. C7.
17. Azerrad, p. 403–404.
18. O'Connor, Alan (2008). Punk Record Labels and the Struggle for Autonomy: The Emergence of DIY. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1-4616-3408-9.
19. Kerr, Dave (July 28, 2016). "RATM's Tim Commerford on Fugazi and more - Under the Influence". The Skinny. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
20. Pinkard, Ryan (October 21, 2016). "American Football: 5 Albums That Changed My Life". Tidal. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
21. Buchanan, Rhys (July 26, 2019). "Nine Songs: METZ". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
22. Weinman called Repeater one of his biggest influences. See:Benjamin Weinman (October 30, 2013). "Under the Influence: Dillinger Escape Plan's Ben Weinman". The Skinny. Retrieved May 16, 2020. Repeater was a record that was meant to be performed. And no band put on a better show then Fugazi. It was their live show that literally drove an underground punk band based on specific ethics and values to almost mainstream success.
23. Deem, Anna (March 15, 2010). "Ted Leo And Friends Take Unexpected Turns Live". The Chicagoist. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
24. "KEANU REEVES GIVES DOGSTAR ITS CELEBRITY". Orlando Sentinel. The Dallas Morning News. July 18, 1995. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
25. "Bandwidth | WAMU 88.5's New Music Site". 16 December 2016. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
26. "Ben Lee Will Cover Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Daniel Johnston, Pavement And More On New Covers Record, Quarter Century Classix". American Songwriter. September 18, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
27. "Tim Timebomb and Friends | Search Results kevin bivona". timtimebomb.com.
28. Tolzmann, Samuel (April 4, 2013). "Album Review: The Knife, "Shaking The Habitual"". WRMC-FM. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
29. Galil, Leor (July 20, 2011). "Yet Another Fugazi "Cover"". Washington City Paper. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
30. "Stereotyperider - Under The Influence". Discogs. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
31. "[COVER] "Shut the Door" - Fugazi" – via Facebook.
32. "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985-2014)". Spin. May 11, 2015.
33. Milner, Greg (September 1999). "The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s". SPIN. Vol. 15, no. 9. p. 136. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
34. "#125 - The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s". Alternative Press. March 10, 2010.
35. "The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
36. "The Best Indie Rock Albums of the '90s". Complex. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
37. Loudwire Staff. "The Best Hard Rock Album of Each Year Since 1970". Loudwire. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
38. cosstaff (2022-09-12). "The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time". Consequence. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
39. "Kerrang! - 50 influential albums". www.muzieklijstjes.nl. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
40. "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 100-51". Pitchfork. September 2010. p. 5. Retrieved June 6, 2012.

External links

• Repeater (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)