Joe Lally

Nothing Is Underrated

[3/5]

You can take the bassist out of Fugazi, but you can’t take Fugazi out of the bassist. Though he’s on his own, Joe Lally still creates music as challenging and rewarding as his former band. His newest album is an Olympic-sized pole vault leap over his debut, 2006’s haphazard and half-baked There To Here. Nothing Is Underrated perseveres with confident performances and a cohesion the former disc lacked. Like fellow alum Ian MacKaye’s post-Fugazi endeavor the Evens, Lally succeeds using a modicum of musical resources. The sound is fantastically sparse, with minor guitar, keyboard and percussion flourishes. Much of the record hinges on Lally’s simple bass measures and repetitive (though memorable) vocal melodies. Some might call it Fugazi without the volume, but clearly, songs like “Map Of The World” and “Via Nomentana” strike out in musical realms seldom charted by D.C.’s finest. (DISCHORD) Casey Boland