Liner Notes: Fugazi and Bikini Kill's first demos

Welcome to the third edition of Liner Notes, a feature in which I will talk about the production design, packaging, and process of buying a particular record. I am building a collection of vinyl. The look and feel of the record is important to me, otherwise I would be satisfied to have all my music solely in a digital format. People do not buy records because it is convenient. They take up a lot of space, they are fragile and they get dusty. Record collectors do not mind these drawbacks so much because of what we get in return: big artwork, full liner notes and the tangibility of vinyl.

This installment of Liner Notes focuses on a pair of records recorded at Inner Ear Studios near Washington, D.C. This is the studio in which most of Dischord Records' releases were recorded. One of these records is a Dischord release: Fugazi's First Demo, recorded in 1988 and just released in November. Fugazi is of course the seminal post punk band fronted by Ian MacKaye, who is also the founder of Dischord Records. The second record in the pair is not a Dischord release but was recorded by MacKaye: Bikini Kill's eponymous EP of early demos.

Fugazi's First Demo collects 11 songs the band recorded in 1988: two years before the release of their debut album and five years after the dissolution of MacKaye's seminal hardcore band Minor Threat. The recordings here include early versions of "Waiting Room," "Bad Mouth," "Merchandise" and more. Old photos of an adorably young Fugazi permeate the album's artwork, from the front cover to the sleeve to the four postcards from the Fugazi-mobile. A collage of handwritten, hand-edited, stained Fugazi lyrics graces the back cover, reinforcing the unpolished nature of a release like this. It serves as a reminder that while Fugazi completists and those interested in punk history will find this collection highly valuable, those new to the band should probably start elsewhere.

Three years after recording at Inner Ear with Fugazi, MacKaye invited Bikini Kill to record a session after seeing them play a small show in Washington, D.C. Recorded in 1991, these tracks were originally released on Kill Rock Stars as a 7-inch in 1992. What I have my hands on here is a 2012 reissue put out on Bikini Kill Records. This edition was released as a 12-inch with a massive zine-style poster detailing the early years of Bikini Kill in words and pictures.

An interview with Ian MacKaye tells the story of the four songs recorded at Inner Ear, which I will paraphrase here. MacKaye had been working with Inner Ear Studios' owner Don Zientara since 1980. There was an understanding that if MacKaye came across a cool band, he could have a day's worth of studio time for free to record them. All he had to pay for was the tape. When he asked Bikini Kill to come in for a free, no-strings-attached session, they were reluctant but came in and recorded anyway. MacKaye notes that it occurred to him later that this may have been the first time the band had recorded in a real studio. Bikini Kill got the master tapes at the end of the day and were free to do whatever they saw fit with them. For a good while, they did nothing and said nothing about them. Their debut album was released in 1991. Suddenly they did release the Inner Ear session as a self-titled 7-inch in 1992. The 12-inch reissue adds two tracks recorded in 1991 and 1992 at Yo-Yo Studios and the Sanctuary Theater, respectively.

Bikini Kill, like Fugazi's First Demos, is an important historical document. It captures a time and a place in the career of a band that has been wildly influential musically and culturally. Both of these releases are highly recommended for more-than-casual fans.