Though it’s named for one of their songs, Fugazi does not appear on Give Me the Cure. Virtually every other prominent local post-punk band, however, makes an appearance on the 18-song album, a Whitman- Walker Clinic benefit conceived by WHFS’s Dave Marsh and Pat Ferrise. Most Cure songs have an implacable groove or a buoyant melody and sometimes both, so the band’s repertoire is well suited to such a venture. Several of this project’s participants simply envelop themselves in that funereal beat—the Ropers’ “Jumping Someone Else’s Train,” Candy Machine’s “10:15 Saturday Night,” Cinnamon Toast’s “Piggy in the Mirror” —while others jump into the current and battle their way against it: Shudder to Think’s “Shake Dog Shake,” Chisel’s “Six Different Ways,” Frodus’ “Killing an Arab,” Mud’s “The Blood,” and My Life in Rain’s “Pictures of You.”

Others drain the songs of their vehemence: Eggs shamble “Catch” out onto the Pavement, Edsel becalms “Plastic Passion,” Peter Hayes gives “A Night Like This” a gentle but heavily echoed reading, and Tuscadero provides “Boys Don’t Cry” with a gnarly guitared, girly sound. Glo- worm’s “Friday I’m in Love” fits here too, although that song was uncharacteristically dulcet to begin with. Not all these versions work, and none are revelatory. Still, it’s a solid addition to contemporary tributemania—even if no one dared touch the perfect-as-it-stands “Primary.” The album was released by Radiopaque, P.O. Box 16241, Alexandria, VA 22302.