Big Black was an Independent noise rock band founded in Evanston, Illinois,… Read Full Bio ↴Big Black was an Independent noise rock band founded in Evanston, Illinois, United States, that was active between 1982 and 1987. They were headed by singer, lyricist, guitarist, and co-songwriter Steve Albini. They have been classified as post-hardcore/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.

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.

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.

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 did not 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 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 was not 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 expecting to make a career out of Big Black, 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 Pixies, Nirvana, The Jesus Lizard, The Auteurs, Slint, Membranes, PJ Harvey, and many others, in addition to playing in Rapeman and Shellac.

The band are mentioned in the 1988 the 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 suffered a stroke in 1993 and was left paraplegic. He started a blog and wrote a book.

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.

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.

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 would not 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.

Big Black's career is chronicled in Our Band Could Be Your Life, a study of several important American underground rock groups.

In December 2019, longtime bassist Dave Riley passed away from throat and lung cancer. He was 59.

Crack
Big Black Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I have never been so happy in my whole life
I've been denied this so long, I'm sure it's right
Finally, this is working
Finally, this is life
Finally, this is working
Finally, this is life
In comes the crack
And everything falls apart

In comes the bowl, nice
Then comes the crack
And everything comes apart
Then comes the night
Then you die
I still can't believe this
This is something I've done
I've never been so broken
I've never hurt so much
This is like a slap in the face
This is like an amputation
This is like a slap in the face
This is lake an amputation
Then comes the crack
And everything falls apart
Then comes the bowl
Then you die
Then comes the crack
And everything comes apart
Then comes the night
Then you die
I still can't believe this
This is something I've done
I've never been so broken
I've never hurt so much
This is like a slap in the face
This is like an amputation
This is like a slap in the face
This is like an amputation
This is like a slap in the face
This is like an amputation
This is like a slap in the face
This is like an amputation
This is like a slap in the face
This is like an amputation
This is like a slap in the face
This is like an amputation
Then comes the crack
And everything falls apart
Then comes the bowl
Then she dies
And then comes the crack
And everything is torn apart

And then comes the night
And then she dies

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Big Black's "Crack in 2" depict a feeling of absolute bliss that is suddenly shattered by the introduction of crack cocaine into the singer's life. The first few lines of the song express the newfound happiness that the singer is experiencing, after having been denied it for so long. However, this happiness is short-lived, as soon enough, "the crack" enters into the picture, and "everything falls apart." The "bowl" that is mentioned may refer to the pipe used to smoke the drug.

As the song progresses, the lyrics become more desperate and intense. The repetition of "then you die" serves to emphasize the deadly consequences of drug addiction. The singer expresses shock at what they have done to themselves, and feels broken and hurt as a result. The slap in the face and amputation may represent the feeling of having lost a part of oneself or having been figuratively beaten down by the addiction.

Overall, the lyrics of "Crack in 2" speak to the destructive power of addiction and the toll it takes on the user's life.

Line by Line Meaning

I have never been so happy in my whole life
The persona is filled with joy and contentment due to a recent event

I've been denied this so long, I'm sure it's right
The persona has been deprived of something important for a while, and the current state of affairs feels just and deserved

Finally, this is working
The smooth functioning of a process or event

Finally, this is life
The current state of affairs is fulfilling to the persona

Finally, this is working
The smooth functioning of a process or event

Finally, this is life
The current state of affairs is fulfilling to the persona

In comes the crack
The introduction of an undesirable element into a situation

And everything falls apart
The collapse or breakdown of the aforementioned situation

In comes the bowl, nice
The arrival of a desired object or item

Then comes the crack
The introduction of an undesirable element into a situation

And everything comes apart
The collapse or breakdown of the aforementioned situation

Then comes the night
The arrival of a time of darkness or despair

Then you die
The final consequence of the persona's actions

I still can't believe this
The persona is shocked and struggling to accept what has happened

This is something I've done
The persona takes responsibility for their actions which led to the current state of affairs

I've never been so broken
The persona is emotionally shattered

I've never hurt so much
The persona is experiencing immense physical or emotional pain

This is like a slap in the face
The situation feels like an extremely harsh wake-up call or shocking revelation

This is like an amputation
The situation feels like the loss of a crucial part of the persona's identity or sense of self

This is like a slap in the face
The situation feels like an extremely harsh wake-up call or shocking revelation

This is like an amputation
The situation feels like the loss of a crucial part of the persona's identity or sense of self

Then comes the crack
The introduction of an undesirable element into a situation

And everything falls apart
The collapse or breakdown of the aforementioned situation

Then comes the bowl
The arrival of a desired object or item