“Waiting Room” by Fugazi

"Waiting Room" kicks off Fugazi's debut EP from 1988, and it's the sound of a hardcore band learning to swing. Ian MacKaye wrote it with the short life of his previous band, Embrace, on his mind; this time he meant to hold out for the right people and the right moment. The band cut it with Ted Niceley co-producing and Don Zientara engineering, and the bass line prowls like funk while the guitars jab and the whole thing lurches with a reggae and hip-hop pulse under the punk bark.

It was never a single, yet it became one of their most popular and most covered songs, and it turned up again on the 13 Songs compilation. The earliest recording comes from the band's first show in 1987, before Guy Picciotto had even joined.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.