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.
Kitty Empire
Big Black Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fat in the Midwest, Emperor rolls his little balls -- Catland
Says hi to his pal Walter, for all that smoking in the backyard
The neighbors do not understand, he's an aberration
Even makes a funny noise
He plays great hunter with a ball-point pen
When the cat's away, ah, it's a regular rat day
When the rat's away, ah, King Cat, King Cat can play day
It flops around, you admired it
I am your neighbor now
You can't stop me now
In exchange??, I will even run a mm mm mm??
If not, then all I want is something else
You will ask them for me
In exchange, I'll piss on everything you value
I am the Emperor of Cats
I do what I want now, cats
I do what I want now, cats
I shit outside if I want to
All a part of my, ow, kitty empire
The lyrics to Big Black's song "Kitty Empire" depict the life of a cat, who is viewed as an emperor in their world. The first lines introduce the cat as the "Master of all Cats," who is quite obese and rolls his little balls in a place known as "Catland." While making his rounds, the cat greets his friends and neighbors, which may include a person named Walter, who smokes in the backyard. However, the cat is different from other cats, and people view him as an "aberration" because he makes a funny noise.
Then the focus shifts to the cat's mischievous side as he plays the role of a great hunter with a ball-point pen. The lyrics suggest that when the cat is away, the rats can play, and when the rats are away, it is time for King Cat to enjoy himself. The expression "I jump around with my wang in the wind" uncovers the cat's free-spirit, which portrays the feeling of liberation that comes from being the king in their domain. The cat's tone then changes, and he turns into a more ominous figure, demanding something from his neighbor in exchange for a favor, and threatening to Pee on everything they value if he is not pleased. The lyrics end with the cat reminding everyone that he is the Emperor of Cats, and he does what he wants, including shitting outside, which belongs to his "kitty empire."
Line by Line Meaning
The Emperor makes his rounds, Master of all Cats
The cat Emperor goes around in his territory, claiming his mastery over all other cats.
Fat in the Midwest, Emperor rolls his little balls -- Catland
The cat Emperor is huge and he rolls around his small balls, declaring that the whole place belongs to cats of his kind.
Says hi to his pal Walter, for all that smoking in the backyard
The cat Emperor greets his cat friend Walter and acknowledges him for smoking in the backyard which is not approved by others.
The neighbors do not understand, he's an aberration
The non-cat neighbors do not comprehend the cat Emperor's actions and consider him an oddity.
Even makes a funny noise
The cat Emperor makes odd noises, much to the confusion of other cats and the neighbors.
He plays great hunter with a ball-point pen
The cat Emperor shows off great hunting skills with a common ball-point pen.
When the cat's away, ah, it's a regular rat day
When the cat Emperor is not present, it's just another day for rats to roam around.
When the rat's away, ah, King Cat, King Cat can play day
When the rats are not around, the cat Emperor has a great time playing around and doing whatever he wants.
I jump around with my wang in the wind
I dance merrily with my private parts exposed to the air.
It flops around, you admired it
You look and observe intently as it swings back and forth.
I am your neighbor now
I have become your neighbor, whether you like it or not.
You can't stop me now
You are powerless and cannot prevent me from doing whatever I wish to do.
In exchange??, I will even run a mm mm mm??
I'll consider an offer in return and might even do something quite unnecessary for you.
If not, then all I want is something else
If there's no deal, then I'd settle for another thing of interest.
You will ask them for me
You shall represent my wishes to others.
In exchange, I'll piss on everything you value
In return, I'll intentionally urinate over things that are precious to you.
I am the Emperor of Cats
I am the supreme ruler of cats and their domain.
I do what I want now, cats
I do whatever I fancy, as I'm the Emperor and you'd better obey.
I do what I want now, cats
I do whatever I choose, and no one can stop me.
I shit outside if I want to
I poop outside, and there's nothing you can do about it.
All a part of my, ow, kitty empire
All of this behavior and actions are a part and parcel of my domain and authority, aka 'kitty empire'.
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind