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.
The King Of The Jews
Big Black Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mm mm all in me
And I killed another day
On the wall there's another there
I hacked through another night
By the look of mm my hand
I'm adrift and I can't mm
I started out hating myself and when I'm through
Man's gotta have something to hate, guess I'll do
And when I'm through with myself, I'll start on you
Everything I do, it's do-or-die
I started out drinking, I wonder why
I started out drinking, mm mm mm mm
Mm mm mm mm all in me
And I killed another day
On the wall there's another there
I hacked through another night
Another wrinkle in my skin
Another trip that I can't make
Man's gotta hate someone, and I guess I'll do
And when I'm through with myself, I'll start on you
I started out hating myself, now that I'm through
I'm looking for someone to hate, guess you'll do
"The King of the Jews" by Big Black is a song that reflects the singer's feelings of hopelessness and despair. The song starts with the singer admitting that he started out drinking, indicating that he is using alcohol to cope with his problems. He then goes on to talk about his struggle to get through each day, and how he feels adrift and unable to cope with his emotions. The singer then reveals that he hates himself and needs something or someone else to direct his anger towards. The lyrics show the singer's nihilistic outlook on life and his need for external validation.
The song is a commentary on the cyclical nature of misery and the futility of trying to escape it. The singer starts out drinking to forget his problems, but this only leads to further self-hatred and misery. He then latches onto someone else to hate, but this does not solve his problems either. The song shows how easy it is to get caught up in destructive cycles when you feel overwhelmed by life.
Line by Line Meaning
I started out drinking, states that winnie
I began my night with a drink, according to Winnie
Mm mm all in me
I consumed a significant amount of alcohol
And I killed another day
I wasted another day
On the wall there's another there
I have another day gone to waste written on the wall
I hacked through another night
I made it through another difficult night
By the look of mm my hand
My hand appears unsteady and possibly injured
I'm adrift and I can't mm
I'm lost and unable to find my way
I started out hating myself and when I'm through
I began the night with self-hatred and when I'm done drinking
I've gotta have something to hate, and I guess it's you
I need something to direct my anger towards, and it looks like it's you
Man's gotta have something to hate, guess I'll do
A person needs a target for their hatred, and you'll do
And when I'm through with myself, I'll start on you
When I'm done hating myself, you'll be the target of my anger
Everything I do, it's do-or-die
I feel like every action I take is life or death
I started out drinking, I wonder why
I began drinking, and now I'm questioning my motive
Mm mm mm mm all in me
I am heavily intoxicated
And I killed another day
I wasted another day
On the wall there's another there
I have another day gone to waste written on the wall
I hacked through another night
I made it through another difficult night
Another wrinkle in my skin
I am aging and the drinking is taking a toll on me
Another trip that I can't make
I am unable to complete another task or journey
Man's gotta hate someone, and I guess I'll do
A person needs someone to direct their anger towards, and you'll be it
And when I'm through with myself, I'll start on you
When I'm done hating myself, you'll be the next target of my anger
I started out hating myself, now that I'm through
I began the night with self-hatred, and now that I'm done drinking
I'm looking for someone to hate, guess you'll do
I need someone to direct my anger towards, and you seem like the perfect target
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