Everything about Big Black totally explained
Big Black was a
noise rock band founded in
Chicago, Illinois, United States, that was active between
1982 and
1987. They were headed by singer, lyricist, guitarist, and co-songwriter
Steve Albini.
They sought and found little mainstream success, but the group's piledriver
drum machines and brutal, slashing
electric guitars were widely influential, especially for
industrial rock. Albini's snide, malevolent singing and provocative lyrics garnered much attention.
They have been classified as
noise rock, and were a formative influence on
industrial rock, but the band members have always described the band as solidly
punk rock; in the notes for
Pigpile, a live recording of their final
London performance, Albini explicitly describes Big Black as punk.
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, a
Roland TR-606. (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. Intended primarily to recruit members to fill out the band,
Lungs was released by
Ruthless Records. The record is infamous 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. Heavily influenced by
Public Image Limited and
Killing Joke, Albini describes the amateurish
Lungs as one of his few artistic regrets.
Guitarist
Lyle Preslar, previously and later of
Minor Threat, was briefly a member of Big Black during his semester at Northwestern, though after a few tempestuous practice sessions, he and Albini parted ways. 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.
Riley was a longtime
funk fan and had worked at a Detroit recording studio frequented by
Sly Stone and
George Clinton. His bass guitar work with Big Black was, to a degree, influenced by funk -- not to suggest that he played like
Bootsy Collins or
Larry Graham, but he did bring a sinuous quality to the music. Even before Riley joined, there was evidence of an interest in funk: Big Black had already covered
James Brown's "
The Payback".
The band made a name for itself nationally with its first album
Atomizer, which featured more controversial lyrics by Albini, and strong contributions by Durango and Riley to the songs and arrangement -- a working scheme the band had settled on because it took advantage of each member's strengths. Some listeners 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".
Albini drew much lyrical inspiration from misadventures and escapades he observed during his teen years in rural
Missoula, Montana: for example, "Cables" was inspired by acquaintances who would visit a
slaughterhouse to watch cattle get killed.
In 1987 the band switched labels again, this time to the cult Chicago-based indie label
Touch and Go Records, when the band became disenchanted with Homestead Records after the label illegally released promotional-only copies of some of limited-edition recordings. 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 wasn't a gimmick; the band truly thought
Headache was inferior, and wanted to warn fans.
Shortly after, Durango announced that he was leaving the band to attend law school. Never having expected to make a career out of Big Black, the band decided this would be a good time to stop. They broke up and then released one final album,
Songs About Fucking.
Big Black's career is chronicled in
Our Band Could Be Your Life, a study of several important American
underground rock groups.
After Big Black
Steve Albini went on to become a successful recording engineer (he dislikes the term "producer") for bands like
Pixies,
Nirvana,
The Jesus Lizard,
The Auteurs,
Slint,
Membranes,
P.J. Harvey,
Joanna Newsom and many others, in addition to playing in
Rapeman and
Shellac.
The band is mentioned in the 1988
Dead Milkmen song, Sri Lanka Sex Hotel, in the line: "Let's play Big Black at 3 a.m., And tell the neighbours they can all get fucked".
Dave Riley has largely recovered from a
stroke that
befell
him in
1993 and has since released a CD and a book.
(External Link) (External Link)
Santiago Durango released two EPs as Arsenal on Touch and Go, and is still a practicing lawyer. In his first case he helped recover
Cynthia Plaster Caster's bronze casts of the genitalia of various rock and roll artists, including that of
Jimi Hendrix. He handled some litigation for Touch and Go, and is currently an appellate defender.
(External Link)
Touch and Go acquired the rights to the Big Black back catalog, and reissued these (by this time) hard-to-acquire classics.
Big Black have been posthumously successful, with
Q Magazine's August 2007 issue naming
Songs About Fucking as the fifth loudest album of all time, just ahead of
the Who's
Live at Leeds and
Public Enemy's
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.
Reunion
Big Black briefly reunited to play a few songs at Touch and Go Records 25th anniversary celebration on 9 September 2006. The line up was Steve Albini, Santiago Durango and Jeff Pezzati. They played "Cables," "Dead Billy," "Pigeon Kill," and "Racer X," in that order.
"I know what you're all thinking... 'what was all the fuss about?'" Albini said onstage that night. He later said that the reunion wouldn't have happened but for the Touch & Go anniversary, and said the record label is "the most important thing to happen in music in my lifetime." Pezzati and Durango nodded in assent.
Discography
Studio Albums
Live Albums
Sound of Impact (Blast First, 1987)
Pigpile (Touch and Go, 1992)
Compilations
The Hammer Party (Homestead, 1986)
The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape (Touch and Go, 1987)
Bootlegs
Tonight We Walked with Giants Live in England 7-24-87 (Unknown, Unknown) (Contains a portion of the pigpile live release in inferior sound quality. also contains an "Exclusive" track also available on the pigpile DVD)
EPs
Lungs (Ruthless, 1982)
Bulldozer (Ruthless, 1983)
Racer-X (Homestead, 1984)
Big Money (Promotional EP) (Homestead, 1986)
Headache (Touch and Go, 1987)
7" Singles
Rema Rema (Forced Exposure magazine giveaway, 1985)
Il Duce (Homestead, 1986)
Heartbeat (Touch and Go, 1987)
He's a Whore/The Model (Touch and Go, 1987)
Various Artist Compilations
Big Payback (The Middle of America Compilation WNUR 89.3FM Evanston-Chicago, H.I.D. Productions, Ltd., 1984)
Hunter's Safety (Tommy Bartlett Dies In Pain)" (The Middle of America Compilation WNUR 89.3FM Evanston-Chicago, H.I.D. Productions, Ltd., 1984)
Every Man for Himself (Gods Favorite Dog Touch and Go, 1986)
Crack Up (Gods Favorite Dog Touch and Go, 1986)
Il Duce (The Wailing Ultimate Homestead, 1987)
Kerosene (live 1986) (Nothing Short of Total War (Part One) Blast First/Mute, 1989)
He's a Whore (Nothing Short of Total War (Part One) Blast First/Mute, 1989)
Burning Indian Wife (Happiness Is Dry Pants) Chemical Imbalance, Unknown)
Videos
Big Black Live 1986 (VHS) (Atavistic, 1987)
The Last Blast (VHS) (1988)
Pigpile (VHS) (Touch and Go, 1992)Further Information
Get more info on 'Big Black'.
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