Big Black
| Big Black | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Chicago , United States |
| Genre (s) | Noise rock , post punk , post hardcore , industrial rock |
| founding | 1982 |
| resolution | 1987 |
| Founding members | |
| Steve Albini | |
| Last occupation | |
| Steve Albini | |
| Santiago Durango (since 1983) | |
| Jeff Pezzati (since 1983) | |
| Dave Riley (since 1984) | |
| former members | |
| Lyle Preslar (1982) | |
Big Black was an American rock band from Chicago founded in 1981/82 around the guitarist and singer Steve Albini, who later became known as a music producer .
history
At the beginning of the 1980s, Steve Albini had already made a name for himself in Chicago as a columnist in the Fanzine Matter . In his column, Tired of Ugly Fat? he expressed himself in a partially provocative manner about personalities of the music scene in Chicago. In the band Stations , of which he was briefly a member, he became acquainted with a drum computer and was fascinated by the precision and stamina of the machine. After he left, he got his own drum machine, a Roland TR-606 , and started writing songs.
In 1981 he bought a guitar and, together with Roland, the drum machine , recorded the Lungs cassette on a 4-track recorder within a week . Primarily, Lungs was meant to recruit other band members; it was then released in December 1982 as an EP on Ruthless Records. Some copies of the first edition were accompanied by objects such as dollar bills, photographs, used condoms, rubber animals or bloody handkerchiefs. As a first new addition, Albini was able to win the guitarist Lyle Preslar from Minor Threat ; however, he left after a short time because of quarrels with Albini. In 1983 Jeff Pezzati ( bass ) and Santiago Durango (guitar) joined, both of whom were also employed in the band Naked Raygun . With this line-up they recorded two more EPs by 1985: Bulldozer for Ruthless Records and Racer-X for Homestead Records . Pezzati left the band at the end of 1984 because his job and two other bands meant he could not spare time for Big Black . Dave Riley joined the band as the new bass player for him.
With the new line-up, they recorded their first album, Atomizer . This made for their first major success, not only at the local but also at the national level. Through the mediation of Sonic Youth they got a record deal in Europe with Blast First . When their label Homestead Records began to sell the single Il Duce , which was planned as a promotional single, without consulting the band, they broke off their connection with Homestead and switched to Touch and Go Records in 1987 . There they released their next EP, Headache . There was a sticker on it that said, “Not as good as atomizer ; don't hope too much! ". This wasn't a joke; Albini actually thought that Headache was n't as good as the previous album.
After Headache , Albini came to the conclusion that Big Black had no more potential. Riley's drinking problems caused the band increasing problems; and when Durango decided to study law from the fall of 1987 , the decision was made to break up the band after a tour. Before that, they recorded one last studio album ( Songs About Fucking ) and also released The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape , a re-release of Atomizer plus the single Heartbeat . In 1986 Homestead released The Hammer Party , an album that brought together the EPs Lungs , Bulldozer and Racer-X .
Steve Albini became a sought-after sound engineer after Big Black and played in bands like Rapeman and Shellac . Dave Riley suffered a stroke in 1993 and has since released a CD and book. Santiago Durango is a lawyer and u. a. works for Touch and Go Records . Touch and Go owns the rights to the band's back catalog and has re-released it. On September 9, 2006, Big Black got back together for a one-off performance at a festival to mark the 25th anniversary of their label. Before a performance by Albini's actual band Shellac , they played the songs Cables , Dead Billy , Pigeon Kill and Racer-X in the line-up of Albini, Pezzati and Durango .
Discography
Albums
- 1986: Atomizer (Homestead)
- 1987: Songs About Fucking ( Touch and Go )
Live albums
- 1987: Sound of Impact (Walls have Ears)
- 1992: Pigpile (Touch and Go)
Compilations
- 1986: The Hammer Party (Homestead)
- 1987: The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape (Touch and Go)
EPs
- 1982: Lungs (Ruthless)
- 1983: Bulldozer (Ruthless)
- 1984: Racer-X (Homestead)
- 1987: Headache (Touch and Go)
Singles
- 1985: Rema-Rema (Forced Exposure)
- 1985: Il Duce (Homestead)
- 1987: Heartbeat (Touch and Go)
- 1987: He's a Whore / The Model (Touch and Go)
- 1992: In My House (Touch and Go)
Web links
- Official site at Touch and Go Records
- Three songs available on Touch and Go Records
- Big Black at Allmusic (English)
swell
- ^ Azerrad, Michael: Our Band Could Be Your Life , Little Brown, ISBN 0-316-78753-1