Stream Fugazi's Raw 'First Demo' Cassette From 1988
The release contains songs the band would re-record throughout its career
By Kory Grow | November 14, 2014
Fugazi recorded their first demo recording in 1988, which they distributed on cassette for free at concerts at the time, and now they are officially putting it out. In advance of its release date next week, the newly remastered First Demo is now streaming in its entirety below. It will be available on CD and vinyl; the LP includes an MP3 download card.
The post-hardcore ensemble had recorded the demo at Arlington, Virginia's Inner Ear Studios in January 1988 after having played only 10 shows, because they wanted to hear what they sounded like. The demo contains raw and reverberating versions of material that would later appear on the band's first two EPs, which came out in 1988 and 1989, as well as its debut LP, Repeater, and 3 Songs EP in 1990.
The group would later record the demo's "Furniture" for its Furniture EP in 2001, released a week before its most recent album, The Argument. "The Word" appeared on the compilation 20 Years of Dischord. The band is currently on hiatus.
The only track from the recordings to get an official release was "In Defense of Humans," which appeared on the 1989 compilation State of The Union, a currently out-of-print album whose sales benefited two causes at the time: the American Civil Liberties Union and the Community for Creative Non-Violence. Although the group circulated the tape at the time, the new release marks the first time all 11 tracks have been available in one place, since they left off "Turn Off Your Guns" at the time.
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