Big Black

"1, 2, 1, 2 Fuck You"

Post-Hardcore band formed by Steve Albini in 1981 and dissolved in 1987. Became popular within the underground music community for their distinctive "clanky" guitar playing, the use of drum machine instead of a drum kit (predating its use in Industrial Metal), and their dark and explicit lyrical content.

Not to be confused with Christopher "Big Black" Boykin from Rob & Big.

Members

• Steve Albini - Vocals, guitar, Drum programming (1981-1987, 2006 Reunion)
• Santiago Durango - Guitar (1983-1987, 2006 Reunion)
• Dave Riley - Bass Guitar (1985-1987)
• Jeff Pezzati - Bass Guitar (1983-1984, 2006 Reunion)
• Roland - Drums (1981-1987, 2006 Reunion)

Discography

Studio Albums

• Lungs (EP) 1982
• Bulldozer (EP) 1983
• Racer-X (EP) 1984
• Atomizer (LP) 1986
• Headache (EP) 1987
• Songs About Fucking (LP) 1987

Compilations

• The Hammer Party (Combines Lungs and Bulldozer on LP, also throws in Racer-X on the CD version) 1986
• The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape (Combines Atomizer, Headache, and Heartbeat; CD Only) 1992

Live Albums

• Sound of Impact (Official Bootleg) 1987
• Pigpile (Live Album + VHS) 1992

Big Black provides examples of the following tropes:

• Affectionate Parody: On their "He's A Whore / The Model" single, both sides of the album art are parody of the album art the covers are originally found on. The "He's A Whore" side has the members of Big Black dressed like Cheap Trick and posing similarly to them on their debut self-titled album. Likewise, on the back side the band parodies the cover art to "The Man-Machine" by Kraftwerk.
• All There in the Manual: The liner notes provided background information on many of the songs. This was removed for "The Rich Man's Eight-Track Tape," a CD compilation combining Atomizer with Headache and the Heartbeat single. This was in line with Steve Albini's dislike of CDs and digital recordings.
• Animesque: The cover of Songs About Fucking.
• Anti-Love Song: "Pavement Saw."
• Badass Boast: The spoken word segment of "Bad Penny."

I think I fucked your girlfriend once
Maybe twice, I don't remember
Then I fucked all your friends' girlfriends
Now they hate you

• Breakup Breakout: Steve Albini has remained a prominent figure in the underground music scene after Big Black's breakup, both as a musician and as a recording engineer who has worked with many notable alternative bands like Nirvana, Pixies, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
• Companion Cube: Albini's Roland TR-606 was nicknamed Roland and credited as such under "Drums".
• Contemptible Cover: Invoked on "Songs About Fucking" and "Headache".
• Cover Version: Several, including Kraftwerk's "The Model," Wire's "Heartbeat," and Cheap Trick's "He's A Whore,"
• Darker and Edgier: Big Black's music opted to become this to Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk.

"Heavy metal and stuff like that didn't really seem intense to me, it seemed comical to me. Hardcore punk didn't really seem intense most of the time — most of the time it just seemed childish. I guess that's how I would differentiate what we were doing from what other people were doing."

• Gorn: The cover of the 1000-copy limited edition of the Headache EP. It is a close-up of the head of a suicide victim who Ate His Gun and split his head in half. Only a mini body bag was appropriate to package it.
• A Good Name for a Rock Band: Their name is "just sort of a reduction of the concept of a large, scary, ominous figure. All the historical images of fear and all the things that kids are afraid of are all big and black, basically."
• Incendiary Exponent: "Kerosene" is about someone applying this to sex.
• Intentionally Awkward Title: Not incredibly apparent on the actual song titles, but their second and final LP was named Songs About Fucking. And boy, was it an appropriate title.
  • Except for "The Power of Independent Trucking", which isn't about fucking.
  • That Albini's next band had the Hentai-derived name "Rapeman" tells you how much he enjoys this trope.
• Intercourse with You: Thoroughly subverted; When you see an album called "Songs About Fucking," you'd better believe that they're not pulling any punches in their lyrics.
• Murder Ballad: "Fish Fry," and "Kasimir S. Pulaski Day" to an extent.
• Parental Incest: "Jordan, Minnesota". With a five-year-old.

SUCK DADDY!

• Refuge in Audacity
• Small Town Boredom: "Kerosene"
• Take That: This excerpt from "The Rich Man's Eight-Track Tape," aimed at CDs and digital recordings.

You should take every opportunity to scratch them, fingerprint them and eat egg and bacon sandwiches off them.

• Truth in Television: Many of the songs were based on events Steve Albini encountered in his youth living in the Midwest.
  • "Cables" is about two of his classmates in high school who would go to slaughterhouses for entertainment.
  • "Pigeon Kill" is about a town dealing with a massive pigeon infestation using poisoned corn.