On Nov. 18, Dischord Records releases the first demo from D.C. heavyweights Fugazi, recorded in 1988. It promises to be a time capsule from the band’s toddler days, when the fourpiece had a mere 10 shows under its belt and had just begun to sound like the band that would eventually come to define D.C.’s post-hardcore scene.
This morning Dischord released a song from that demo: the anti-consumerism “Merchandise,” a track that saw its formal release on Fugazi’s 1990 full-length debut, Repeater.
As the label points out, the only song previously released from the demo was “In Defense of Humans.”
Stream the demo version of “Merchandise” below. (For comparison, I’ve included an embed of the slicker version that eventually came out in 1990.)