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]
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]
^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.
