ARLINGTON, Va. — Fugazi will end their decades-long hiatus with the release of a new album of prank phone calls, sources close to the band confirm.
“We started getting together last year in secret to work on songs for a new album,” said Ian MacKaye. “However, everything we came up with felt like a rehash of our earlier work, and we definitely didn’t want to be a nostalgia act. We were at practice one night feeling frustrated when Guy made a prank call to Comet Ping Pong to lighten the mood, and something just clicked. We made some more calls and realized we’d stumbled upon a whole new realm of artistic expression for us.”
Lifelong Fugazi fan Evan Stowe admits to being puzzled by the announcement.
“When I heard there was a new Fugazi album coming out, I was over the moon. They’re my favorite band and I never thought we’d get new material from them,” said Stowe. “But when I found out it was all prank calls and no music, I was pretty disappointed. Are the guys in Fugazi even funny? They always seemed pretty serious on stage. I’ll always support the band and whatever they do, but I’m just not really into prank calls. I mean, I did like the Jerky Boys when I was a kid, so I guess I’ll give it a try. Maybe it’ll grow on me.”
Despite the band’s unusual pivot, early reviews of the album have been generally positive.
“It’s a 9.8 out of 10,” said Pitchfork writer Quentin Pierce. “An instant classic. What Fugazi has achieved is nothing short of miraculous. This isn’t so much an album but a visionary subversion of the very idea of music as we know it. They’ve been to the top of the mountain and now they’ve transcended genre and musical structure altogether. The strong opening track finds Ian portraying a man with a thick Southern accent calling a muffler shop to complain about a rattling sound in his car. Brendan Canty shines as an angry patient with an embarrassing rash calling a dermatologist, and Guy Picciotto’s masterful turn as an old Italian man trying to order sausage from a butcher is breathtaking.”
At press time, Dischord labelmates Lungfish had announced they would be returning as well with an album of creepy Halloween sound effects.
