Fugazi - End Hits

What's a bunch of punk icons to do when the times that they helped to define start changing? Do they continue doing what they've always done and become an anachronism, play follow the leader, or strike off in a new direction, blazing trails for others to follow? On End Hits, it seems Fugazi has chosen the latter, continuing the transformation they began on 1995's Red Medicine, from DC hardcore's leading light to 21st century art-rock. This doesn't mean they are growing fatter, balder, 20 years older and british, they're just expanding their boundaries. The lyrics still bite and the guitars still sting, but they've thrown something else into the mix. The riffs are no longer just power chord blasts, but melodic lines that could carry the songs as instrumentals. and what's that in the bass? it couldn't be! it is (gasp)! counterpoint! after 11 years and 7 albums, Fugazi are paying as much attention to the craft of songwriting as political indignation and diy activism.