Emergency OG Quick Take: Fugazi - The Albini Sessions

DC's punk legends honor the late Steve Albini as only they can.

All of us here at 3A6OG HQ have some connection, however tenuous, to the (ahem) salad days of DC punk. I still remember my first Fugazi show and it was a major one. I was a freshman at GW who at that point probably spent more time at the original 9:30 Club (the smell! the pole!) and DC Space than class. In January 1991, I made it over to Lafayette Park for the pre-Gulf War protest and caught Fugazi’s blistering set. If I had to give you my Mount Rushmore of the greatest live performances I’ve seen, I only need to think about the other three. Fugazi in 1991 is guaranteed a spot.

Over a year later, the band made its way out to Chicago for a recording session with Steve Albini, who passed away in 2024. As the story goes, everyone loved the tracks in the moment but on the drive back to DC, both the band and Albini (who remained in Chicago) separately came to the conclusion that the recordings were “flat.” Fugazi returned to Inner Ear Studios and re-recorded the songs, all of which made their way onto Fugazi’s third studio album, In on the Kill Taker.

Through rumor and the occasional bootleg, these recordings have built up a lore of their own. After a transfer from the master tapes, Fugazi finally officially released The Albini Sessions, a digital-only download available on Bandcamp with all proceeds going toward the Letters Charity, a Chicago nonprofit that Albini supported for decades.

Two songs are available to stream for free (just a taste…) and you can hear how different they sound from their original In on the Kill Taker versions.

These new (old?) versions sound like Fugazi are playing in your living room, as does the rest of The Albini Sessions. What could be better? Enjoy the samples and click on through to Bandcamp to buy the album. (Brian)