Big Black
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Big Black was a rock music band active between 1982 and 1987. They were led by singer, songwriter and guitarist Steve Albini.
They found little mainstream success (and never really sought any), but the group's piledriver drum machines and brutal, slashing guitars were hugely influential, especially on industrial rock. Albini's snide, malevolent singing and provocative songwriting garnered much attention.
They have been classified as noise rock, and were a formative influence on industrial rock, but in the notes for the live Pigpile, Albini explicitly describes Big Black as punk rock.
History
Albini made a name for himself for his controversial "Tired of Ugly Fat?" column in the Chicago zine Matter, as well as irregular contributions to Forced Exposure. At the time, the band consisted of Albini and his drum machine, Roland. (All of Big Black's recordings credit "Roland" as if "he" were a member of the band.)The Lungs EP, the first effort to appear under the Big Black name, was recorded by Albini in his dorm room at Northwestern University, and was intended primarily to recruit members to fill out the band, and was released by Ruthless Records. The record is famous for the variety of inserts, which included a lyric sheet in most copies, plus extras like condoms, dollar bills, stickers, concert tickets, photographs, silverware, razor blades, bloody bandages, and squirt guns.
Guitarist Lyle Preslar (once and future Minor Threat member) was very briefly a member of Big Black: his few rehersals with Albini deteriorated into arguments before the duo realized they could not work together well.
In 1983 Jeff Pezzati and Santiago Durango, both of Naked Raygun, joined the band on bass and guitar, respectively. They recorded two EPs together, switching to Homestead Records, and soon after Pezzati left the band. He was replaced by Dave Riley.
The band made a name for themselves nationally with their Gang of Four influenced music and controversial lyrics. Some didn't understand that their songs were either social commentary or sarcastic jokes (often both), and assumed that the band was sexist and racist. Albini responded to these accusations by making his lyrics even more offensive than before. Albini has stated that irritating "squares" was no challenge, but he took specific glee in offending "hipsters".
The band had been unhappy with their share of the profits from the successful Atomizer release, and switched labels again in 1987, this time to the cult Chicago-based indie label Touch and Go Records. Big Black then released the Headache EP, which bore a sticker reading, "Not as good as Atomizer, so don't get your hopes up, cheese!". This was not a gimmick; Albini truly thought Headache was inferior, and wanted to warn fans.
Shortly after, Durango announced that he was leaving the band to attend law school. The band realized this would be a good time to stop, not wanting to turn into the Rolling Stones. They broke up, and then released one final album, Songs About Fucking.
Steve Albini went on to become a successful recording engineer (he dislikes the term "producer") for bands like Nirvana, The Jesus Lizard, The Auteurs, Slint, P.J. Harvey and the Pixies (and many others), as well as playing in Rapeman and Shellac. Dave Riley recovered from a stroke suffered in 1993 and has since released a CD and a book. Santiago Durango is still a lawyer, and is currently the chief attorney for Chicago's Touch and Go Records. Touch and Go acquired the rights to the Big Black back catalogue, and reissued these (by this time) hard-to-acquire classics. On 29 June 2006, it was announced on Touch and Go's website that Big Black would briefly reunite to play a few songs at Touch and Go Records 25th anniversary celebration on 8-10 September 2006. The line up will be Steve Albini, Santiago Durango and Jeff Pezzati.
Big Black's career is chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life, a study of several important American underground rock groups.
Discography
Albums
- Atomizer (Homestead, 1986)
- Songs About Fucking (Touch & Go, 1987)
- Pigpile (Touch & Go, 1992)
EPs
- Lungs (Ruthless, 1982)
- Bulldozer (Ruthless, 1983)
- Racer-X (Homestead, 1984)
- Headache (Touch & Go, 1987)
7\" Singles
- Rema Rema (Forced Exposure magazine giveaway, 1985)
- Il Duce (Homestead, 1986)
- Heartbeat (Touch & Go, 1987)
- He's a Whore/The Model (Touch & Go, 1987)
Collections
- The Hammer Party (Homestead, 1986)
- The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape (Touch & Go, 1987)
External links
- [Big Black fan site] with discography, interviews, links.
- [Action Park], a comprehensive information site for Albini-related projects.
- [Touch and Go website] offers several Big Black songs for download
- [Electrical Audio] Steve Albini's two-studio complex located in Chicago, Illinois.
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