6/10

While their fans wait on baited breath for them to end their eleven year long hiatus, post-rock outfit Fugazi have now unveiled some forgotten material from deep within their vault to appease their masses. Released by their former label Dischord Records, 'First Demo' is a collection of unreleased tracks originally recorded back in 1988, two years before the release of their debut album 'Repeater', and interestingly enough, it is not what you might think.

While the band made a name for themselves as a forward thinking and experimental group, this first collection of original material really allows you to hear what their initial influences were and gives the listener a broader sense of how they were formed. You can hear a lot of Black Flag and Minor Threat coming through on these early tracks, but with the odd hint of prog rock emerging every now and again to show that these guys had far more ideas brewing than what their surface material showed.

This is obviously a release aimed squarely at impatient fans waiting for their return, but is still a very interesting and essential listen if you want to hear how they evolved and developed as a band. It's a so-so set of tracks but still worth giving it a go.