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.
Sleep!
Big Black Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your foot in my face is what keeps me alive
When it's over, when it's over, when it's over
When this is over, I want sleep
Opened the door with a gun in his hand
Sometimes I think I'm gonna catch it in the back
Feed me a line, I've had a few
When it's over, when it's over, when it's over
When this is over, I want sleep
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
The lyrics to Big Black's song Sleep! appear to describe a nightmarish and violent existence where the singer is constantly at the mercy of others, particularly those who may take advantage of their power over him. The first verse describes the singer's head being on the ground and his mouth filled with dirt, with someone's foot in his face keeping him alive. This imagery suggests a submission to violence and control by someone else, and the desire for the violence to be over so that the singer can rest and recover.
The second verse features more violent imagery, with someone opening a door with a gun in their hand, and the singer feeling like they may be shot in the back. The line "Feed me a line, I've had a few" suggests that the singer may have been taken advantage of through deception or manipulation, leading to the violence and fear they are experiencing. The repetition of "when it's over, I want sleep" reinforces the idea that the singer's greatest desire is to escape the violence and find peace.
Overall, the lyrics to Sleep! paint a bleak and unsettling picture of a life filled with violence and fear, where the only escape may be found in sleep.
Line by Line Meaning
My head on the ground with my mouth full of dirt
I am lying on the ground with dirt all around my mouth.
Your foot in my face is what keeps me alive
Your foot pressing against my face is the only thing preventing me from dying.
When it's over, when it's over, when it's over
I repeatedly think about the end of this situation.
When this is over, I want sleep
After this situation is over, I want to rest and sleep.
Opened the door with a gun in his hand
He entered the room with a gun in his possession.
Sometimes I think I'm gonna catch it in the back
At times, I have thoughts of being attacked from behind.
Feed me a line, I've had a few
You've lied to me before and I know it.
Clean my clock, guess I had it coming
I deserved to be punished for my actions.
Hey hey hey
Vocals that express raw feelings or the need for attention/emotion.
Hey hey hey
Vocals that express raw feelings or the need for attention/emotion.
Hey hey hey
Vocals that express raw feelings or the need for attention/emotion.
Hey hey hey
Vocals that express raw feelings or the need for attention/emotion.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: EARL LEBIEG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind