Pool Holograph - ST (2013)

I have always been intrigued by the DC music scene. I find the city to be the epicenter of national bullshit, and yet the community finds a way to overcome the shoulder-high levels of sleaze brought in from across the country by some politician’s war chest.

Pool Holography make nice pop gems for cloudy days. DC has plenty of those, so this thing would be on constant rotation if you lived there. It needs little in the way of introduction: this 4 track cassette jumps right into the deep end, but quickly surfaces to breath in deep. Incognito is my favorite track, with its hushed, melancholy lyrics slowly chased by a well constructed guitar line that flies just above it all. The band's vocal delivery is rooted in the depressing city that is a politician's play-land, but the instrumentation takes the listener above the fray.

Get it here:
Pool Holograph - ST (2013)

Fugazi - The Argument (2001)

As American voters go to the polls today, it is important to remember that the best thing to come out of any political regime is the music that challenges it. There are so many great records directed at the powers that be and changing society that I was literally at a loss last night figuring out which one I would share today. When it comes to the general malaise maintained throughout last decade, no one addressed the issues of the day better than Washington DC’s hometown heroes, Fugazi. On their last record “The Argument” they had this to say about the state of their city:

 “on the morning of the first eviction they carried out the wishes of the landlord and his son/ furniture's out on the sidewalk next to the family/ that little piggie went to market, so they're kicking out everyone/ talking about process and dismissal forced removal of the people on the corner”

 Ian MacKay even directs his furor at fellow punks and activists who have gotten too close to power and lost their moral compass.  

“it's all about strikes now so here's what's striking me that some punk could argue some moral abc's when people are catching what bombers release”

I surely want one side to win today’s election, but great records like the Argument remind us the power music has to focus our concentration on what matters.  
Cashout           
The Argument

Get it here:
Fugazi - The Argument (2001)