The Evens are a Washington D.C. duo, formed in the fall of 2001, comprising of Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi, The Teen Idles, Embrace) and Amy Farina (The Warmers, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists). After Fugazi entered a hiatus, the Evens began practicing extensively, and eventually played a few shows and recorded a self-titled album, released in March 2005 on MacKaye's label, Dischord Records.
The Evens are known for their unusual choices in venues for performances and the stylistic change from what many have dubbed the "D.C." or "Dischord sound". The Washington Post has described the sound as "what happens when post-hardcore becomes post-post-hardcore".
The Evens first gained notice in late 2003 when they created a video for their original children's song "Vowel Movement", which was made for Pancake Mountain, a Washington, D.C. internet-based children's program.
The clip fueled furthered rumors of Fugazi's breakup amid their hiatus, while adding speculation as to MacKaye's new musical direction. The song featured sing-along lines and upbeat music in the vein of Sesame Street and other children's educational programs, while the video showed dancing children and colorful vowels.
The Evens are significant for fans of MacKaye because it is his first project aside from Fugazi since Pailhead (1988), his first non-Fugazi related LP since Embrace, released in 1987, and his first and probably only music video with "Vowel Movement".
In June and July 2006, MacKaye and Farina recorded new music that they wrote earlier in that year. On November 6, 2006, they released their second album entitled Get Evens, which featured this new music.
On Saturday, May 24, 2008, Amy Farina and Ian MacKaye welcomed their first child, a son named Carmine Francis Farina MacKaye.The Dischord site announced that The Evens are working on a new album on June 22, 2012.
In September 2012, the website announced that the new album called The Odds would be released on November 20, 2012.The album The Odds was listed 45th on Stereogum's list of top 50 albums of 2012.
