Fugazi, via Dischord Records

It’s been more than 16 years since Fugazi played their last show, and while they never broke up, their indefinite hiatus is looking more and more permanent as each year passes. But the book is not totally closed on the seminal post-hardcore band’s career just yet — at least according to bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty.

Fugazi’s impact on heavy music from the late ’80s through the early 2000s is the stuff of legend. Led by the dueling vocals and guitars of onetime Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye and former Rites of Spring vocalist Guy Picciotto, the band sold millions of albums via MacKaye’s indie label, Dischord Records — an incredible feat for an act that turned down massive offers from major labels.



Along the way, they played thousands of shows, mostly at $5 a ticket, for a devoted fanbase that pines for the band to return to the stage and the studio.

Now, Fugazi’s equally important rhythm section of Lally and Canty have left open the door for a reunion without building up too much hope. While discussing their new instrumental outfit The Messthetics, the pair were asked by the UK website Louder about the possibility of a Fugazi comeback.

“You never want to say never about anything,” answered Lally. “Because how can you say that about the future? But there does seem to be a lack of time to allow it to happen, because the four of us would have to spend a lot of time together to figure out, ‘Should we play old songs?’ ‘Who are we now?’ ‘What is it now?'”

He added, “We are not the kind of band to get together and just rehearse two hours of old songs to go out and play it, rake in the dough and come home.”

Canty chimed in, “If we got back together, it would have to be from the spirit of creativity. You can’t put an inherently creative group back together and then not have the creative element. It would be different if we got back together.”

In the meantime, Lally and Canty have teamed up with guitarist Anthony Pirog in The Messthetics, and they released a self-titled debut album via Dischord Records last year. Lally is also in a new outfit with Ian MacKaye and Mackaye’s wife, Amy Farina; the as-yet-unnamed group played their first show back in November.

For now, you can revisit Fugazi’s music by picking up their classic albums via Dischord Records or Reverb LP.