My music trajectory in high school started with blink-182, then I got sidetracked by nu-metal, lots of TRL and whatever else my friends were into (which sent me into a Christian Music phase which was only bolstered by the fact that my only avenues for purchasing CDs were Christian bookstores, Wal-Mart, and a head shop that I was too nervous to approach). I used to post a lot on the official MCA Records blink-182 message boards and a common thing for people to do there was to tell everyone what actual punk was which got me really petty about how fast a song was or how hoarse the singer's voice was. But petty like how a confused yet eager to please high schooler would be petty, so like, uninformed and temporarily petty.

Eventually I mellowed out and just listened to what I liked, even if it wasn't fast. One of my favorite albums at that point was the self-titled Foo Fighters album, which I loved so much I decided it was the perfect album, with perfect songs, sequenced perfectly. It had some fast songs too which was cool.

That lasted for a few months, and listening to The Argument by Fugazi pretty much changed how I felt about music.

I had never really considered the possibility that an album could be a "space". The sequencing of The Argument adds this wonderfully expansive center to the more energetic tracks that bookend it and it was so good that I didn't really understand it at first. Once I gave it a chance, it became a huge part of how I approach music both as an enjoyer and an occasional maker.

I've held every aspect of this album in the highest regard for over a decade now, and although I've found other albums that check all the boxes, The Argument remains the Really Cool One and I think it's neat, also it's not fast, so it's not punk.

10 stars

Name
Charlie
Martin Schuhmann
Mattias Hinderson
R.J.
Aulia Ramadhan