The Fordists are a three-piece band from Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD. They are great at taking chords that don’t seem to go together and complex time signatures and making it all work. We think of Fugazi when listening to the band, and here drummer Jason Lobe reacts to this comparison for us.
“I’m not surprised by the Fugazi comparison; it happens pretty frequently. We certainly all like Fugazi and are flattered. We’ve gotten many comparisons to Dischord and other related bands and have been told many times we have that ‘traditional’ DC sound, so, yes it is a reasonable comparison.”
The band has an LP called Watch You, which came out in 2011, and the way they worked with the song titles is intriguing. It’s almost like a strange story outline is forming when you read them from first track to last:
A strange woman
(told time)
without a watch
Late for the zombie apocalypse
she decided to save the ducks
A deranged man
killed your dog
while security watched
It was disgusting
glamorous
Jason says, “The lyrics are about there being no objective reality or truth. And having to ignore those things to make up some narrative and hope you don’t snap and do anything too bad before you die.”
The band didn’t include a lyric sheet with the album, but you can find the lyrics at their Tumblr page.
The Fordists have been playing one-off shows, but while we wait for the band to start working on new material, order Watch You on vinyl from Amor y Lucha or get the digital version at their Bandcamp page.
I’m a sucker for mathy, intense music, so of course I’m happy with Watch You. Their other CD’s are great as well.