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4. 13 Songs (1989): 13 Songs -- actually a combination of the EPs Fugazi (1988) and Margin Walker (1989) -- is as auspicious as punk debuts come. For guitar-playing outcasts on campus looking to find solace among their own kind, the "Waiting Room" bassline would soon replace the "Blister In The Sun" riff as the misfit mating-call of choice, and it remains one of the most identifiable openings of any punk song this side of "Lust For Life." 13 Songs is also remarkable in that it illustrates that most of the Fugazi elements were in place from the jump, albeit in a somewhat less-developed form. If the concept of a punk band writing a song from the perspective of a woman being hooted at by sexist loudmouths seems revolutionary now, imagine what it sounded like in 1988, when the canon of classic punk still consisted largely of songs dealing with beating on brats, lynching landlords, and the ritual impaling of cats. If Fugazi wasn't the first punk band to inject a social conscience into the music (Gang Of Four and the Clash, to name two obvious examples, had them beat by about a decade), they were certainly one of the most visible American bands to do so. The debut EP is nearly flawless, and if the Margin Walker EP is slightly less so, it still includes classics in both the teethy, indispensible title track and the clamorously melodic "Promises," both of which lay the groundwork for anything approaching a Fugazi formula.
