169-515: Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois , active from 1981 to 1987. Founded first as a solo project by singer and guitarist Steve Albini , the band became a trio with an initial lineup that included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati , both of Naked Raygun . In 1985, Pezzati was replaced by Dave Riley , who played on Big Black's two full-length studio albums , Atomizer (1986) and Songs About Fucking (1987). Big Black's aggressive and abrasive music
338-480: A DIY ethic ; many bands self-produce recordings and distribute them through independent labels . The term "punk rock" was previously used by American rock critics in the early 1970s to describe the mid-1960s garage bands. Certain late 1960s and early 1970s Detroit acts, such as MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges , and other bands from elsewhere created out-of-the-mainstream music that became highly influential on what
507-718: A guitar , borrowed a four-track multitrack recorder from a friend in exchange for a case of beer, and spent his spring break week recording the Lungs EP in his living room, handling the guitar, bass, and vocals by himself and programming the Roland TR-606 to provide the drum sound. Influenced by bands like Cabaret Voltaire , Killing Joke , and the Cure , the EP is described by Our Band Could Be Your Life author Michael Azerrad as "cold, dark, and resolutely unlistenable", with
676-703: A "dirty bastard", a "dirty fucker", and a "fucking rotter", triggering a media controversy. The episode had a major impact on the history of the scene and the punk term became a household name in 24 hours thanks to the press coverage, and several front covers of newspapers. Two days later, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, and the Heartbreakers set out on the Anarchy Tour, a series of gigs throughout
845-473: A "national scandal". Jamie Reid 's "anarchy flag" poster and his other design work for the Sex Pistols helped establish a distinctive punk visual aesthetic . On December 1, 1976, an incident took place that sealed punk rock's notorious reputation, when the Sex Pistols and several members of the Bromley Contingent , including Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin , filled a vacancy for Queen on
1014-610: A "punk mass" for the next couple of years. In the March 1971 issue of Creem, critic Greg Shaw wrote about the Shadows of Knight 's "hard-edge punk sound". In an April 1971 issue of Rolling Stone , he referred to a track by the Guess Who as "good, not too imaginative, punk rock and roll". The same month John Medelsohn described Alice Cooper 's album Love It to Death as "nicely wrought mainstream punk raunch". Dave Marsh used
1183-409: A "style of adornment calculated to disturb and outrage". Among the other facets of the punk rock scene, a punk's hair is an important way of showing their freedom of expression. The typical male punk haircut was originally short and choppy; the mohawk later emerged as a characteristic style. Along with the mohawk, long spikes have been associated with the punk rock genre. Between the late 16th and
1352-546: A 1974 interview for his fanzine Heavy Metal Digest , Danny Sugerman told Iggy Pop "You went on record as saying you never were a punk" and Iggy replied "...well I ain't. I never was a punk." By 1975, punk was being used to describe acts as diverse as the Patti Smith Group , the Bay City Rollers , and Bruce Springsteen . As the scene at New York's CBGB club attracted notice, a name was sought for
1521-521: A Big Black reunion performance at Touch and Go's 25th Anniversary festival. Albini's touring schedule with Shellac did not allow time for the band to rehearse a full set, so they instead played a short set of four songs: "Cables", "Dead Billy", "Pigeon Kill", and "Racer-X". Albini explained that the performance was "not about Big Black wanting to get back together or even an audience wanting to see Big Black, it's that ... to not honor Touch and Go would be an insult by way of damning with faint praise", describing
1690-564: A Whore", Kraftwerk 's " The Model ", and the Mary Jane Girls ' " In My House ". The sound that Big Black forged for themselves, however, was wholly original: Azerrad remarks that "the band's music—jagged, brutal, loud, and nasty—was original to a downright confrontational degree. Big Black distilled years of post-punk and hardcore down to a sound resembling a singing saw blade mercillesly tearing through sheet metal. No one had made records that sounded so harsh." Big Black's songs explored
1859-498: A band called Savage Beliefs, and his playing style impressed Albini and Durango, who invited him to join Big Black as they were recording the songs that would make up the band's first full-length album. Albini claimed to be aiming for a "big, massive, slick rock sound" with Racer-X , which was less frantic than Bulldozer , but ultimately felt that the EP was "too samey and monolithic." The band had already begun writing new songs by
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#17327796390332028-545: A band who can lay claim to influencing the movement, "the seeds of punk remain blatant in the howling ultimatum Erickson transferred from his previous teen combo to the Elevators" as well as describing other bands in the Houston , Texas psychedelic rock scene as "a prime example of the opaque proto-punk undertow at the heart of the best psychedelia ". Hippie proto-punk David Peel of New York City 's Lower East Side
2197-495: A booking agent or road crew with whom they would have to share profits. The lack of a drummer also meant one less member to split profits with, and since there was no drum kit the band did not have to rent a tour van to fit all of their equipment. Thus Big Black was able to profit from most of their tours. They embarked on a 1984 national tour of the United States in preparation for their forthcoming Homestead EP, utilizing
2366-444: A brick of firecrackers onstage before the band played, a tradition he carried on from their earliest performances through their dissolution and revived for their 2006 reunion set, and would count in most songs by yelling "One, two, fuck you!" While playing, the band members would slam their hands against their steel guitar strings so hard that they would draw blood, often needing to put adhesive bandages on their fingers. Albini used
2535-532: A characteristic sound described by Christgau as a "buzzsaw drone". Some punk rock bands take a surf rock approach with a lighter, twangier guitar tone. Others, such as Robert Quine , lead guitarist of the Voidoids , have employed a wild, " gonzo " attack, a style that stretches back through the Velvet Underground to the 1950s recordings of Ike Turner . Bass guitar lines are often uncomplicated;
2704-492: A controversial column titled "Tired of Ugly Fat?" for the Chicago zine Matter , publishing confrontational rants about the local music scene which polarized readers into either respecting or hating him. Albini began playing in college bands, including a short-lived "arty new wave " act called Stations that featured a drum machine . Seeing the advantage in a machine that could play incredibly fast without tiring, always kept
2873-476: A cramped car and sleeping on people's floors. Albini handled much of the band's logistics himself, setting up rehearsals, booking studio time, and arranging tours. With their reputation growing through small tours, he was able to set up a run of East Coast dates including performances in Washington, D.C. , and Boston and at New York City 's Danceteria , followed by a European tour on which they won acclaim in
3042-489: A deal with Homestead Records . Gerard Cosloy , who had befriended Albini through writing for Matter and gone on to work at Homestead, negotiated an unorthodox deal for the band: Big Black merely licensed their recordings to Homestead for specific lengths of time, rather than the label retaining the rights to the recordings as was typical. Further, the band took no advance payments , paid for their own recordings, and signed no contracts. Durango later remarked that "We came from
3211-618: A distinct musical style. Even where they diverged most clearly, in lyrical approach – the Ramones' apparent guilelessness at one extreme, Hell's conscious craft at the other – there was an abrasive attitude in common. Their shared attributes of minimalism and speed, however, had not yet come to define punk rock. After a brief period unofficially managing the New York Dolls, Briton Malcolm McLaren returned to London in May 1975, inspired by
3380-473: A falling out with the label and its distributor, Dutch East India Trading. According to Albini, Dutch East India's accounting practices were "always fucked. They would do every sleazy, cheap trick to avoid paying you, like send you a check that wasn't signed or send you a check that had a different numeral and literal amount." Homestead then asked to make five hundred copies of a 12-inch single of "Il Duce" for free distribution to radio stations. The band agreed on
3549-593: A few basic principles: Treat everyone with as much respect as he deserves (and no more), Avoid people who appeal to our vanity or ambition (they always have an angle), Operate as much as possible apart from the "music scene" (which was never our stomping ground), and Take no shit from anyone in the process . ^ I The band's drum machine is credited as "Roland" on their releases. The discography of Big Black consists of two studio albums , two live albums , two compilation albums , four EPs , five singles , and one video album. ^ I Sound of Impact
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#17327796390333718-564: A former member of New York's experimental rock group the Velvet Underground , who inspired many of those involved in the creation of punk rock. The New York Dolls updated 1950s' rock 'n' roll in a fashion that later became known as glam punk . The New York duo Suicide played spare, experimental music with a confrontational stage act inspired by that of the Stooges. In Boston, the Modern Lovers , led by Jonathan Richman , gained attention for their minimalistic style. In 1974, as well,
3887-400: A higher-than-average percentage of really good songs." The lyrics on Atomizer presented sociopaths committing evil acts that most people only sometimes contemplate: "Big Money" deals with a corrupt police officer, "Bazooka Joe" profiles a shell-shocked veteran who becomes a contract killer , "Stinking Drunk" describes a violent alcoholic , and "Fists of Love" presents a sadist . One of
4056-422: A lot of 1960s stuff was innovative and exciting. Unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere. By 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bullshit rock 'n' roll." John Holmstrom , founding editor of Punk magazine, recalls feeling "punk rock had to come along because
4225-506: A major cultural phenomenon in the UK. It gave rise to a punk subculture that expressed youthful rebellion through distinctive styles of clothing , such as T-shirts with deliberately offensive graphics, leather jackets, studded or spiked bands and jewelry, safety pins, and bondage and S&M clothes. In 1977, the influence of the music and subculture spread worldwide. It took root in a wide range of local scenes that often rejected affiliation with
4394-550: A monster truck rally." Critic Robert Christgau commented that "Anybody who thinks rock and roll is alive and well in the infinite variety of its garage-boy permutations had better figure out how these Hitler Youth rejects could crush the competition and quit simultaneously. No matter what well-meaning rockers think of Steve Albini's supremacist lies, they lie themselves if they dismiss what he does with electric guitars—that Killdozer sound culminates if not finishes off whole generations of punk and metal." Albini himself later considered
4563-503: A musical project called Miasma of Funk, releasing the album Groove on the Mania! , and in 2006 published the book Blurry and Disconnected: Tales of Sink-or-Swim Nihilism . Riley died December 24, 2019, at the age of 59, from squamous cell carcinoma that began in his throat and spread to his lungs. In 1992 Big Black's catalog reverted to Touch and Go Records, who re-released their entire discography and kept their records in print long after
4732-465: A number of threats, Albini never fired Riley. Another problem facing the band was that Riley was now in college and both Albini and Durango had to keep day jobs, which limited Big Black's ability to tour. When Durango announced that he intended to enter law school beginning in the fall semester of 1987, the band decided to keep going until he began school and then call it quits. Despite enjoying increased press, radio airplay, record sales, and concert fees,
4901-421: A practicing lawyer , with clients including Touch and Go Records and Cynthia Plaster Caster . Riley recorded tracks with the groups Algebra Suicide, Bull, and Flour before being incapacitated by a stroke in 1995, which was initially erroneously reported as a suicide attempt. Having lost the ability to walk, he authored a blog about his experiences titled "Worthless Goddamn Cripple". In 2004 he participated in
5070-482: A punk perspective—we did not want to get sucked into a corporate culture where basically you're signing a contract because you don't trust the other person to live up to their word. We had ideals, and that was one of our ideals." The band members figured that if a record company were going to cheat them, they would be able to do so with or without a contract because the band could not afford to defend themselves. Albini believed that Big Black had nothing to gain by adopting
5239-584: A requisite item for punk fans. The BBC banned "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" due to its controversial lyrics. In October, the Sex Pistols hit number eight with " Holidays in the Sun ", followed by the release of their first and only "official" album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols . Inspiring yet another round of controversy, it topped the British charts. In December, one of the first books about punk rock
Big Black - Misplaced Pages Continue
5408-609: A signature "clanky" sound with his guitar by using metal guitar picks notched with sheet metal clips, creating the effect of two guitar picks at once. The Bulldozer EP was recorded with engineer Iain Burgess and released in December 1983, with the first two hundred copies packaged in a galvanized sheet metal sleeve in homage to Public Image Ltd. 's Metal Box . Many of the EP's lyrics depicted scenarios drawn from Albini's rural upbringing, such as "Cables", which described
5577-457: A significant impact on the developing independent rock community. "Big Black was a band that went where few bands dared to go (and where many felt bands shouldn't go)," writes Mark Deming, "and for good or ill their pervasive influence had a seismic impact on indie rock." Albini summed up several of the band's core ideals in his notes to the Pigpile album: Organizationally, we were committed to
5746-401: A single, "Little Johnny Jewel". In the words of John Walker, the record was "a turning point for the whole New York scene" if not quite for the punk rock sound itself – Hell's departure had left the band "significantly reduced in fringe aggression". Early in 1976, Hell left the Heartbreakers to form the Voidoids , described as "one of the most harshly uncompromising [punk] bands". That April,
5915-484: A specially-made hip-slung guitar strap worn around his waist like a belt, and would "prowl the stage like a spindly gunslinger", according to Azerrad. Gerard Cosloy recalls that "It looked like someone had plugged Steve into the amp [...] he was pretty scary to watch onstage." During performances of "Jordan, Minnesota", the band would reach a point where they would prolong a discordant, creepy noise while Albini would perform an intense pantomime as though he were one of
6084-462: A steady beat, and would follow commands exactly, he purchased a Roland TR-606 drum machine and began writing what would become the first Big Black songs. However, he was unable to find other musicians who could play the songs to his satisfaction, later stating in Forced Exposure that "I couldn't find anybody who didn't blow out of a pig's asshole." Instead, in the spring of 1981, he bought
6253-620: A traditional rock 'n' roll verse-chorus form and 4/4 time signature . However, later bands often broke from this format. Punk music was not a standalone movement in the 70’s and 80’s. Major punk communities gather across the globe as punk perseveres among contemporary musicians and listeners today. The vocals are sometimes nasal, and the lyrics often shouted in an "arrogant snarl", rather than conventionally sung. Complicated guitar solos were considered self-indulgent, although basic guitar breaks were common. Guitar parts tend to include highly distorted power chords or barre chords , creating
6422-405: A two-month-long weekend residency at CBGB that significantly raised the club's profile. The Television sets included Richard Hell's "Blank Generation", which became the scene's emblematic anthem. Soon after, Hell left Television and founded a band featuring a more stripped-down sound, the Heartbreakers , with former New York Dolls Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan . In August, Television recorded
6591-445: A unit, Durango's ability to rework arrangements and tweak sounds helping to refine Albini's song ideas. According to Albini, "He ended up being absolutely crucial to Big Black." Albini "sorta conned" small local label Fever Records into financing the next Big Black EP, bringing in drummer Pat Byrne of Urge Overkill to play on the sessions as accompaniment to the drum machine, which they dubbed "Roland" for album credits. Albini achieved
6760-527: A vehement, straight-ahead punk rock style with a committed anarchist mission, and played a major role in the emerging anarcho-punk movement. Sham 69, London's Menace, and the Angelic Upstarts from South Shields in the Northeast combined a similarly stripped-down sound with populist lyrics, a style that became known as street punk . These expressly working-class bands contrasted with others in
6929-569: Is also known for recording almost any artist who requests his services (usually at very low rates but deliberately charging high amounts to artists on major record labels), disliking being credited on the albums he works on (insisting on being credited as a recording engineer rather than a producer , if at all), and refusing to take royalties for his work (calling them "an insult to the band"). Durango, meanwhile, continued to play music during his law school years, releasing two EPs on Touch and Go as Arsenal and recording with Boss Hog . He then became
Big Black - Misplaced Pages Continue
7098-568: Is an authorized bootleg released through a subsidiary imprint of Blast First . Punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk ) is a music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock , punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced short, fast-paced songs with hard-edged melodies and singing styles with stripped-down instrumentation. Lyricism in punk typically revolves around anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian themes. Punk embraces
7267-412: Is meant to be our freedom. We're meant to be able to do what we want to do." Authenticity has always been important in the punk subculture—the pejorative term " poseur " is applied to those who adopt its stylistic attributes but do not actually share or understand its underlying values and philosophy. Scholar Daniel S. Traber argues that "attaining authenticity in the punk identity can be difficult"; as
7436-481: Is much less the rule. Hardcore drumming tends to be especially fast. Production tends to be minimalistic, with tracks sometimes laid down on home tape recorders or four-track portastudios. Punk rock lyrics are typically blunt and confrontational; compared to the lyrics of other popular music genres, they often focus on social and political issues. Trend-setting songs such as the Clash's " Career Opportunities " and Chelsea 's "Right to Work" deal with unemployment and
7605-486: Is our condition. As symbols of protest, swastikas are no less fatuous than flowers. — Robert Christgau in Christgau's Record Guide (1981) Technical accessibility and a do it yourself (DIY) spirit are prized in punk rock. UK pub rock from 1972 to 1975 contributed to the emergence of punk rock by developing a network of small venues, such as pubs, where non-mainstream bands could play. Pub rock also introduced
7774-418: Is that the point of all this is to change the way you live your life, not the way you speak." Albini also emphasized that the songs' lyrics were not the focal point of Big Black, and that the vocals were only there out of necessity: "It seemed like, as instrumental music, it didn't have enough emotional intensity at times, so there would be vocals. But the vocals were not intended to be the center of attention —
7943-598: The Los Angeles Times , reviewing the debut album by a hard rock band, Aerosmith , declared that it "achieves all that punk-rock bands strive for but most miss." A March 1973 review of an Iggy and the Stooges show in the Detroit Free Press dismissively referred to Pop as "the apotheosis of Detroit punk music". In May 1973, Billy Altman launched the short-lived punk magazine in Buffalo, NY which
8112-528: The CBGB club, also in Lower Manhattan . At its core was Television , described by critic John Walker as "the ultimate garage band with pretensions". Their influences ranged from The Velvet Underground to the staccato guitar work of Dr. Feelgood 's Wilko Johnson . The band's bassist/singer, Richard Hell , created a look with cropped, ragged hair, ripped T-shirts, and black leather jackets credited as
8281-538: The Krautrock tradition of groups such as Can . In Japan, the anti-establishment Zunō Keisatsu (Brain Police) mixed garage-psych and folk . The combo regularly faced censorship challenges, their live act at least once including onstage masturbation. A new generation of Australian garage rock bands, inspired mainly by the Stooges and MC5 , was coming closer to the sound that would soon be called "punk": In Brisbane ,
8450-516: The Lungs tape to try to enlist other musicians to the project, briefly recruiting Minor Threat guitarist Lyle Preslar who was attending Northwestern, but the two proved incompatible as musicians. Albini passed Lungs on to John Babbin of the small local label Ruthless Records , who released 1,500 copies of the EP in December 1982 with random objects such as dollar bills, used condoms , photographs of Bruce Lee , and bloody pieces of paper thrown into
8619-468: The United Kingdom 's music press. Big Black simultaneously found themselves gaining popularity in their hometown, but felt embittered that the same locals who had snubbed them just months before were suddenly interested now that they had built a reputation outside the city, and the band actually refused to play in Chicago for some time. Part of Big Black's local unpopularity stemmed from Albini and
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#17327796390338788-428: The safety-pin aesthetic —was a major influence on Sex Pistols impresario Malcolm McLaren and, in turn, British punk style. ( John D Morton of Cleveland's Electric Eels may have been the first rock musician to wear a safety-pin-covered jacket.) McLaren's partner, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood , credits Johnny Rotten as the first British punk musician to rip his shirt, and Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious as
8957-592: The 18th centuries, punk was a common, coarse synonym for prostitute; William Shakespeare used it with that meaning in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1602) and Measure for Measure (1603–4). The term eventually came to describe "a young male hustler, a gangster, a hoodlum, or a ruffian". The first known use of the phrase "punk rock" appeared in the Chicago Tribune on March 22, 1970, when Ed Sanders , co-founder of New York's anarcho-prankster band
9126-450: The 1980s and you're seeing the evidence of it all around you", remarking that the label was "the best thing to happen to music in my lifetime, and we did this to say thanks". The performance prompted offers from promoters for further reunion shows, but Albini stated flatly "that is definitely not going to happen." Albini died at age 61 on May 7, 2024, of a heart attack. Big Black's music challenged convention, pursuing an abrasive sound that
9295-484: The Alex Harvey Band — their influence was enormous. And they try to write that all off and wrap it around Patti Smith. It's so wrong!". In October 1976, the Damned released the first UK punk rock band single, " New Rose ". The Vibrators followed the next month with "We Vibrate". On November 26, 1976, the Sex Pistols' released their debut single " Anarchy in the U.K. ", which succeeded in its goal of becoming
9464-459: The Clash , which was joined by Joe Strummer . On June 4, 1976, the Sex Pistols played Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in what became one of the most influential rock shows ever. Among the approximately forty audience members were the two locals who organised the gig—they had formed Buzzcocks after seeing the Sex Pistols in February. Others in the small crowd went on to form Joy Division ,
9633-581: The Clash's debut had included a cover of the recent Jamaican reggae hit " Police and Thieves ". Other first wave bands such as the Slits and new entrants to the scene like the Ruts and the Police interacted with the reggae and ska subcultures, incorporating their rhythms and production styles. The punk rock phenomenon helped spark a full-fledged ska revival movement known as 2 Tone , centered on bands such as
9802-458: The Dead Boys. They were soon playing regularly at Max's Kansas City and CBGB. At this early stage, the term punk applied to the scene in general, not necessarily a particular stylistic approach as it would later—the early New York punk bands represented a broad variety of influences. Among them, the Ramones, the Heartbreakers, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and the Dead Boys were establishing
9971-658: The Detroit band Death —made up of three African-American brothers—recorded "scorching blasts of feral ur-punk", but could not arrange a release deal. In Ohio, a small but influential underground rock scene emerged, led by Devo in Akron and Kent and by Cleveland's Electric Eels , Mirrors and Rocket from the Tombs . Bands anticipating the forthcoming movement were appearing as far afield as Düsseldorf , West Germany, where "punk before punk" band Neu! formed in 1971, building on
10140-541: The Electric Lady in New York City. Underground and pub rock scenes became filled with cacophonous sounds, haziness brought by drugs and alcohol, and unassuming fashion. American punk represented a new generation that combined bohemian atmosphere with an aggressive guitar distortion. The Dead Boys' debut LP, Young, Loud and Snotty , was released at the end of August. October saw two more debut albums from
10309-559: The Fall , and – in the 1980s — the Smiths . In July, the Ramones played two London shows that helped spark the nascent UK punk scene. Over the next several months, many new punk rock bands formed, often directly inspired by the Sex Pistols. In London, women were near the center of the scene—among the initial wave of bands were the female-fronted Siouxsie and the Banshees , X-Ray Spex , and
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#173277963903310478-490: The Fugs described his first solo album as "punk rock – redneck sentimentality". In 1969 Sanders recorded a song for an album called "Street Punk" but it was only released in 2008. In the December 1970 issue of Creem , Lester Bangs , mocking more mainstream rock musicians, ironically referred to Iggy Pop as "that Stooge punk". Suicide 's Alan Vega credits this usage with inspiring his duo to bill its gigs as "punk music" or
10647-532: The Heartbreakers' 1976 and 1977 tours of Britain, Thunders played a central role in popularizing heroin among the punk crowd there, as well.) The Ramones' third album, Rocket to Russia , appeared in November 1977. The Sex Pistols ' live TV skirmish with Bill Grundy on December 1, 1976, was the signal moment in British punk 's transformation into a major media phenomenon, even as some stores refused to stock
10816-523: The Jerks led what became known as no wave . The Misfits formed in nearby New Jersey. Still developing what would become their signature B movie –inspired style, later dubbed horror punk , they made their first appearance at CBGB in April 1977. The American youth were searching for authenticity and newcomers like The Ramone, The Clash and The Stooges. They brought their unique sound to venues like CBGB and
10985-493: The Pixies' Surfer Rosa (1988), Nirvana's In Utero (1993), Bush's Razorblade Suitcase (1996), and Page and Plant's Walking into Clarksdale (1998). In 1997 he opened his own recording studio , Electrical Audio , in Chicago. Albini's recording style is characterized by the use of vintage microphones placed strategically around the performance room, keeping vocals very low in the mix , and using few special effects. He
11154-754: The Ramones", when nothing could have been further from the truth. In Perth , the Cheap Nasties formed in August. In September 1976, the Saints became the first punk rock band outside the U.S. to release a recording, the single " (I'm) Stranded ". The band self-financed, packaged, and distributed the single. "(I'm) Stranded" had limited impact at home, but the British music press recognized it as groundbreaking. A second wave of punk rock emerged in 1977. These bands often sounded very different from each other. While punk remained largely an underground phenomenon in
11323-460: The Ramones' debut album was released by Sire Records ; the first single was " Blitzkrieg Bop ", opening with the rallying cry "Hey! Ho! Let's go!" According to a later description, "Like all cultural watersheds, Ramones was embraced by a discerning few and slagged off as a bad joke by the uncomprehending majority." The Cramps , whose core members were from Sacramento, California and Akron, Ohio , had debuted at CBGB in November 1976, opening for
11492-698: The Saints evoked the live sound of the British Pretty Things , who had toured Australia and New Zealand in 1975. The origins of New York's punk rock scene can be traced back to such sources as the late 1960s trash culture and an early 1970s underground rock movement centered on the Mercer Arts Center in Greenwich Village , where the New York Dolls performed. In early 1974, a new scene began to develop around
11661-405: The Sex Pistols as central players in a new youth movement, "hard and tough". As described by critic Jon Savage , the band members "embodied an attitude into which McLaren fed a new set of references: late-sixties radical politics, sexual fetish material, pop history, [...] youth sociology". Bernard Rhodes , an associate of McLaren, similarly aimed to make stars of the band London SS , who became
11830-570: The Specials , the Beat , Madness , and the Selecter . In July, the Sex Pistols' third single, " Pretty Vacant ", reached number six and Australia's the Saints had a top-forty hit with " This Perfect Day ". In September, Generation X and the Clash reached the top forty with, respectively, "Your Generation" and " Complete Control ". X-Ray Spex's " Oh Bondage Up Yours! " did not chart, but it became
11999-454: The T-shirt, motorcycle jacket, and jeans ensemble favored by American greasers of the 1950s associated with the rockabilly scene and by British rockers of the 1960s. In addition to the T-shirt, and leather jackets they wore ripped jeans and boots, typically Doc Martens . The punk look was inspired to shock people. Richard Hell 's more androgynous, ragamuffin look—and reputed invention of
12168-693: The Teenage Wasteland" in his review of the Stooges July 1972 performance at King's Cross Cinema in London for a British magazine called Cream (no relation to the more famous US publication). In the January 1973 Rolling Stone review of Nuggets , Greg Shaw commented "Punk rock is a fascinating genre... Punk rock at its best is the closest we came in the '60s to the original rockabilly spirit of Rock 'n Roll." In February 1973, Terry Atkinson of
12337-745: The UK. Many of the shows were cancelled by venue owners in response to the media outrage following the Grundy interview. A punk subculture began in Australia around the same time, centered around Radio Birdman and the Oxford Tavern in Sydney's Darlinghurst suburb. By 1976, the Saints were hiring Brisbane local halls to use as venues, or playing in "Club 76", their shared house in the inner suburb of Petrie Terrace . The band soon discovered that musicians were exploring similar paths in other parts of
12506-838: The US, in the UK it had become a major sensation. During this period punk music also spread beyond the English speaking world, inspiring local scenes in other countries. The California punk scene was fully developed by early 1977. In Los Angeles, there were: the Weirdos , The Dils , the Zeros , the Bags , Black Randy and the Metrosquad , the Germs , Fear , The Go-Go's , X , the Dickies , and
12675-619: The United Kingdom, Australia, and across the United States. They performed at the Pukkelpop festival in Belgium with Sonic Youth on July 22, Albini's 25th birthday. At a sold-out show in London for 1,300 people, Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis of Wire joined Big Black onstage to play an encore of Wire's " Heartbeat " (Big Black had released a cover version of the song as a single in conjunction with Headache ). Albini wrote of
12844-593: The United States and abroad as a high-priced "collector's item". Though Homestead claimed not to be selling copies, Albini telephoned one of the label's salespeople posing as a record buyer and was told that they would sell him copies, but not in Chicago. As a result of the deception, Albini and Big Black severed ties with Homestead and Dutch East India. Though the band was receiving lucrative offers from major labels, they chose to remain independent and signed to Touch and Go Records , Albini being good friends with label head Corey Rusk. Big Black's first release for Touch and Go
13013-576: The album Radios Appear on its own Trafalgar label. By 1979, the hardcore punk movement was emerging in Southern California . A rivalry developed between adherents of the new sound and the older punk rock crowd. Hardcore, appealing to a younger, more suburban audience, was perceived by some as anti-intellectual, overly violent, and musically limited. In Los Angeles, the opposing factions were often described as "Hollywood punks" and "beach punks", referring to Hollywood's central position in
13182-719: The album's first side as Big Black's best output. Following Big Black's breakup, Albini formed and fronted Rapeman from 1987 to 1989 and Shellac from 1992 until his death in 2024. He also began work as a recording engineer , working with artists such as Slint , the Pixies , the Breeders , Pegboy , Urge Overkill , the Jesus Lizard , the Wedding Present , Superchunk , PJ Harvey , Nirvana , Bush , and Page and Plant . Some of his most well-known recordings include
13351-847: The album's most controversial songs was "Jordan, Minnesota", about the 1983 scandal in Jordan, Minnesota that saw a large number of the rural town's adults indicted on charges of involvement in a huge child sex ring. "Kerosene", one of Atomizer 's standout tracks, is viewed by both Azerrad and Allmusic's Andy Kellman as the band's peak performance. Azerrad remarks on its "powerful rhythm ripped straight from Gang of Four and guitars that sound like shattering glass", while Kellman calls it "undeniably Big Black's brightest/bleakest moment, an epically roaming track that features an instantly memorable guitar intro, completely incapable of being accurately described by vocal imitation or physical gesture [...] It's Big Black's ' Light My Fire ,' literally." Riley explained that
13520-647: The all-female the Slits . There were female bassists Gaye Advert in the Adverts and Shanne Bradley in the Nipple Erectors , while Sex store frontwoman Jordan not only managed Adam and the Ants but also performed screaming vocals on their song "Lou". Other groups included Subway Sect , Alternative TV , Wire , the Stranglers , Eater and Generation X . Farther afield, Sham 69 began practicing in
13689-1038: The band did not regret their decision and eschewed the idea of commercial success. According to Riley, "Big Black was never about that. For Big Black to make any money, it wouldn't have been Big Black anymore." Being a lame duck band was also liberating, as the members no longer had to be concerned with the group's future. Albini wrote that he was happy to be breaking up the band before it grew too big: I am now quite happy to be breaking up. Things getting much too big and uncontrollable. All along we've wanted to keep our hands on everything, so nothing happened that we didn't want to. With international and multi-format/multi-territorial shit, that's proving elusive. I prefer to cut it off rather than have it turn into another Gross Rock Spectacle. With their breakup announced well in advance, Big Black recorded their final album, Songs About Fucking , half in London and half at Albini's home studio. Their final tours began in June 1987, taking them to Europe,
13858-411: The band's breakup and went on to become their most successful record, with an initial pressing of eight thousand copies. Mark Deming of Allmusic calls it "a scabrous masterpiece", while his colleague Andy Kellman states that "each [song] is incisive enough to render a razor as effective as a butter knife. In sum: yowl, ching, thump-thump-screech. Ugly characters line up in the songs like early arrivals at
14027-557: The band's breakup. That October the label released the live album and video Pigpile , recorded in London during the band's final tours, as well as the compilation album The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape , which combined tracks from Atomizer , Headache , and the " Heartbeat " single in compact disc format. The re-released version of The Hammer Party was expanded to include the tracks from Racer-X . On September 9, 2006, Albini and Durango reunited with original bassist Jeff Pezzati for
14196-457: The band's expectations by selling three thousand copies soon after its release. Big Black secured a European distribution deal for their records through Blast First , a label recommended to Albini by Sonic Youth , and met enthusiastic responses to their shows on a 1986 European tour. The compilation album The Hammer Party , combining Lungs and Bulldozer , was also released through Homestead Records in 1986, but later that year Big Black had
14365-536: The band. Albini did not drink alcohol, so Riley and Durango became drinking buddies on the road while Albini was doing interviews and handling the band's logistics. Riley, however, was drinking to excess, and his behavior ruined several of the band's performances. During a key show at CBGB , he drunkenly smashed the drum machine. Albini also accused Riley of a number of other shortcomings including lateness to rehearsals, always needing rides, and "flashes of brilliance offset by flashes of belligerence." However, though he made
14534-415: The basis for punk rock visual style. In April 1974, Patti Smith came to CBGB for the first time to see the band perform. A veteran of independent theater and performance poetry, Smith was developing an intellectual, feminist take on rock 'n' roll. On June 5, she recorded the single " Hey Joe "/" Piss Factory ", featuring Television guitarist Tom Verlaine ; released on her own Mer Records label, it heralded
14703-604: The broader culture it represented, and their musical predecessors: "No Elvis , Beatles or the Rolling Stones in 1977", declared the Clash song "1977". 1976, when the punk revolution began in Britain, became a musical and a cultural "Year Zero". As nostalgia was discarded, many in the scene adopted a nihilistic attitude summed up by the Sex Pistols ' slogan "No Future"; in the later words of one observer, amid
14872-576: The children from the song's lyrics being raped . "It was actually very disturbing to watch", says Durango, "It would really get people unsettled." The band would respond to hecklers with acidic comebacks or deliberately offensive jokes. Describing the intensity of a January 1987 Big Black performance in Forced Exposure , Lydia Lunch remarked that "I was pulverized into near oblivion as wall after wall of frustration, heartache, hatred, death, disease, dis-use, disgust, mistrust, and maelstrom stormed
15041-504: The close-knit network of independent rock bands to learn of cities and venues to play. In late 1984, following the recording of the Racer-X EP, Pezzati amicably left the band due to his increasingly demanding job, the need to devote time to his fiancée, and the increasing popularity and busy schedule of Naked Raygun, of which he was still a member. Durango, meanwhile, opted to leave Naked Raygun to commit full-time to Big Black. Pezzati
15210-416: The condition that the single was not to be offered for sale, since the song had already been released as a 7-inch single in 1985 and, according to Albini, "We didn't want our audience milked for extra money to buy an alternate format." A few weeks after the single's release, Albini began seeing copies for sale in record stores outside of Chicago. He soon found out that the 12-inch single was being sold both in
15379-531: The cover. While there were articles and reviews of various counter-culture figures in literature ( Charles Bukowski , William S. Burroughs , Philip K. Dick ) and film ( Richard Kern , Nick Zedd ), the primary focus was independent, punk, and obscure music. The tone was often sarcastic, confrontational and highly opinionated. Coley in particular wrote in a vernacular that was influential on subsequent rock journalism. The list of contributors and interviewees includes several prominent figures in underground music from
15548-414: The dark side of American culture in unforgiving detail, acknowledging no taboos . Albini's lyrics openly dealt with such topics as mutilation , murder , rape , child abuse , arson , immolation , racism , and misogyny . "That's just what was interesting to me as a postcollegiate bohemian", he later remarked. "We didn't have a manifesto. Nothing was off-limits; it's just that that's what came up most of
15717-435: The developing sound. Club owner Hilly Kristal called the movement "Street rock" ; John Holmstrom credits Aquarian magazine with using punk "to describe what was going on at CBGBs". Holmstrom, Legs McNeil , and Ged Dunn's magazine Punk , which debuted at the end of 1975, was crucial in codifying the term. "It was pretty obvious that the word was getting very popular", Holmstrom later remarked. "We figured we'd take
15886-432: The drum machine through the monitors . The band's guitar sound was also unconventional. Albini was determined to avoid the "standard rock stud guitar sound", and achieved a signature "clanky" sound by using metal guitar picks notched by sheet metal snips; the notch causing the pick to hit each string twice, creating the effect of two simultaneous guitar picks. Durango remarked: "I always thought that our guitar playing
16055-486: The early Who , the British punks also reflected the influence of glam rock and related artists and bands such as David Bowie , Slade , T.Rex , and Roxy Music . However, Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten (real name John Lydon) insisted that the influences of the UK punk scene were not from the US and NY. "I've heard an awful lot of American journalists pretending that the whole punk influence came out of New York." He argued: "T. Rex, David Bowie, Slade, Mott The Hoople ,
16224-527: The early 1970s to refer to mid-1960s garage acts. In the liner notes of the 1972 anthology LP, Nuggets , musician and rock journalist Lenny Kaye , later a member of the Patti Smith Group, used the term "punk rock" to describe the genre of 1960s garage bands and "garage-punk", to describe a song recorded in 1966 by the Shadows of Knight. Nick Kent referred to Iggy Pop as the "Punk Messiah of
16393-483: The early evening Thames Television London television show Today to be interviewed by host Bill Grundy . When Grundy asked Siouxsie how she was doing, she made fun of him saying, "I've always wanted to meet you, Bill". Grundy who was drunk, told her on the air; "we shall meet afterwards then". This instantly generated a reaction from Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones who pronounced a series of terms inappropriate for prime-time television. Jones proceeded to call Grundy
16562-607: The experience that "If I die right now it will all have been worth it." In the United States the band played in San Francisco , Providence , Boston , New York City , and Newport, Kentucky, concluding with their final performance on August 9, 1987, at the Georgetown Steam Plant in Seattle . At the end of this show the band smashed their instruments onstage. Songs About Fucking was released shortly after
16731-817: The first to use safety pins, although few of those following punk could afford to buy McLaren and Westwood's designs so famously worn by the Pistols, so they made their own, diversifying the 'look' with various different styles based on these designs. Young women in punk demolished the typical female types in rock of either "coy sex kittens or wronged blues belters" in their fashion. Early female punk musicians displayed styles ranging from Siouxsie Sioux 's bondage gear to Patti Smith 's "straight-from-the-gutter androgyny". The former proved much more influential on female fan styles. Over time, tattoos, piercings , and metal-studded and -spiked accessories became increasingly common elements of punk fashion among both musicians and fans,
16900-477: The first wave (e.g., X , the Adicts ) also flourished. Many musicians who identified with punk or were inspired by it went on to pursue other musical directions, giving rise to movements such as post-punk , new wave , thrash metal , and alternative rock . Following alternative rock's mainstream breakthrough in the 1990s with Nirvana , punk rock saw renewed major-label interest and mainstream appeal exemplified by
17069-409: The following year to pursue a journalism degree and fine art minor at Northwestern, Albini immersed himself in the fledgling Chicago punk scene and became a devoted fan of the band Naked Raygun . He also DJ 'd for the campus radio station, from which he was repeatedly fired for playing loud and abrasive music during the morning time slot as well as not completing the required logs. He also wrote
17238-606: The garage phenomenon gathered momentum around the US. By 1965, the harder-edged sound of British acts, such as the Rolling Stones , the Kinks , and the Who , became increasingly influential with American garage bands. The raw sound of U.S. groups such as the Sonics and the Seeds predicted the style of later acts. In the early 1970s some rock critics used the term "punk rock" to refer to
17407-574: The grim realities of urban life. Especially in early British punk, a central goal was to outrage and shock the mainstream. The Sex Pistols' " Anarchy in the U.K. " and " God Save the Queen " openly disparaged the British political system and social mores. Anti-sentimental depictions of relationships and sex are common, as in "Love Comes in Spurts", recorded by the Voidoids . Anomie , variously expressed in
17576-425: The idea of independent record labels , such as Stiff Records , which put out basic, low-cost records. Pub rock bands organized their own small venue tours and put out small pressings of their records. In the early days of punk rock, this DIY ethic stood in marked contrast to what those in the scene regarded as the ostentatious musical effects and technological demands of many mainstream rock bands. Musical virtuosity
17745-578: The inserts. In early 1983 Albini met Naked Raygun singer Jeff Pezzati through mutual friends and convinced him to play bass guitar with Big Black. Pezzati recalled that Albini "knew a heck of a lot about, right from the start, how to release a record and get the word out that you have a record", and that "He jumped at the chance to have a band play his stuff." The two practiced in Pezzati's basement, and one day Naked Raygun guitarist Santiago Durango came downstairs and asked to play along. The trio clicked as
17914-682: The interaction within the band and the chaotic nature of the music, that was the important part." However, he did enjoy testing the tolerance of the white liberal hipsters in his audience and provoking reactions out of listeners, stating that one of the band's goals was "to have pointedly offensive records". Terri Sutton of Puncture magazine wrote that the band's stark presentation of evil, deep-seated human impulses bolstered their work against criticism: "The topics are so deliberately loaded that you can't criticize their 'art' without looking like some fucking puritan ." Onstage, Big Black presented an intense spectacle to match their music. Albini would set off
18083-523: The job. Adopting a new name, the group played its first gig as the Sex Pistols on November 6, 1975, at Saint Martin's School of Art , and soon attracted a small but dedicated following. In February 1976, the band received its first significant press coverage; guitarist Steve Jones declared that the Sex Pistols were not so much into music as they were "chaos". The band often provoked its crowds into near-riots. Rotten announced to one audience, "Bet you don't hate us as much as we hate you!" McLaren envisioned
18252-467: The kind of "cerebral mix of musical ferocity and rebellious posture" that would characterize much of the later British punk rock of the 1970s. The garage/beat phenomenon extended beyond North America and Britain. In America, the psychedelic rock movement birthed an array of garage bands that would later become influences on punk, the Austin Chronicle described the 13th Floor Elevators as
18421-410: The label as "[not] just a benchmark for how a record label should behave, but how people should behave." During the performance he stated that "You can tell [this is] not something we had a burning desire to do, but we did it because we love Touch and Go [and] we love Corey Rusk [...] When history talks about rock music it has a tendency to skip from the Sex Pistols to Nirvana, [but] something started in
18590-408: The lyrics describing child abusers and other controversial topics, and Albini later regarded the effort as one of his few artistic regrets. Albini named his new musical project Big Black, calling the moniker "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." He used
18759-409: The lyrics were meant to serve as a commentary or a display of distaste for the subject matter. They were staunchly critical of the commercial nature of rock , shunning the mainstream music industry and insisting on complete control over all aspects of their career. At the height of their success, they booked their own tours, paid for their own recordings, refused to sign contracts, and eschewed many of
18928-501: The mainstream. In the late 1970s, punk experienced a second wave, when new acts that had not been active during its formative years adopted the style. By the early 1980s, faster and more aggressive subgenres, such as hardcore punk (e.g., Minor Threat ), Oi! (e.g., Sham 69 ), street punk (e.g., the Exploited ), and anarcho-punk (e.g., Crass ), became some of the predominant modes of punk rock, while bands more similar in form to
19097-493: The mid-1960s garage genre, as well as for subsequent acts perceived to be in that stylistic tradition, such as the Stooges. In Britain, largely under the influence of the mod movement and beat groups, the Kinks' 1964 hit singles " You Really Got Me " and " All Day and All of the Night ", were both influenced by "Louie, Louie". In 1965, the Who released the mod anthem " My Generation ", which according to John Reed, anticipated
19266-426: The most human aspect of a rock band, became its most inhuman; it only made them sound more insidious, its relentlessness downright tyrannical." On tour, the sound engineers at many rock clubs were befuddled by the drum machine, afraid that it would not work with their sound system or would blow out their speakers, and the band would have to coerce the club owner or threaten to cancel the show in order to get them to put
19435-584: The movement: the Vibrators , formed as a pub rock–style act in February 1976, soon adopted a punk look and sound. A few even longer-active bands including Surrey neo-mods the Jam and pub rockers Eddie and the Hot Rods , the Stranglers , and Cock Sparrer also became associated with the punk rock scene. Alongside the musical roots shared with their American counterparts and the calculated confrontationalism of
19604-532: The name before anyone else claimed it. We wanted to get rid of the bullshit, strip it down to rock 'n' roll. We wanted the fun and liveliness back." The early to mid-1960s garage rock bands in the United States and elsewhere are often recognized as punk rock's progenitors. the Kingsmen 's " Louie, Louie " is often cited as punk rock's defining " ur-text ". After the success of the British Invasion ,
19773-575: The name of success. To us, every moment we remained unfettered and in control was a success. We never had a manager. We never had a booking agent. We never had a lawyer. We never took an advance from a record company. We booked our own tours, paid our own bills, made our own mistakes and never had anybody shield us from either the truth or the consequences. The results of that methodology speak for themselves: Nobody ever told us what to do, and nobody took any of our money. – Steve Albini Looking for better distribution of their records, Big Black negotiated
19942-454: The new scene he had witnessed at CBGB. The King's Road clothing store he co-owned, recently renamed Sex , was building a reputation with its outrageous "anti-fashion". Among those who frequented the shop were members of a band called the Strand, which McLaren had also been managing. In August, the group was seeking a new lead singer. Another Sex habitué, Johnny Rotten , auditioned for and won
20111-559: The original L.A. punk rock scene and to hardcore's popularity in the shoreline communities of South Bay and Orange County . Forced Exposure Forced Exposure was an independent music magazine founded by Jimmy Johnson and Katie The Kleening Lady (Goldman) ( zine ). It was published sporadically out of Boston from 1982 to 1993, edited by Jimmy Johnson and Byron Coley . It was printed on cheap newsprint with plain design and filled with corrosive yet humorous writing. The first issue featured Boston Hardcore band SS Decontrol on
20280-433: The playground perimeter of lyrical decency (or that the public has any right to demand "social responsibility" from a goddamn punk rock band) is a pure mental dolt, and should step forward and put his tongue up my ass. What we sing about is none of your business anyway. – Steve Albini Albini's lyrics drew criticism for apparent racism and homophobia . Racism was a frequent theme in Big Black songs, influenced partly by
20449-490: The poetic terms of Richard Hell's " Blank Generation " and the bluntness of the Ramones' " Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue ", is a common theme. The controversial content of punk lyrics has frequently led to certain punk records being banned by radio stations and refused shelf space in major chain stores. Christgau said that "Punk is so tied up with the disillusions of growing up that punks do often age poorly." The classic punk rock look among male American musicians harkens back to
20618-551: The punk scene matured, he observes, eventually "everyone got called a poseur". Cultural scholars and music journalists have often attributed ‘true’ punk rock as a movement and cultural fad confined to western world in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The early punk bands emulated the minimal musical arrangements of 1960s garage rock . Typical punk rock instrumentation is stripped down to one or two guitars, bass, drums and vocals. Songs tend to be shorter than those of other rock genres and played at fast tempos. Most early punk rock songs retained
20787-476: The quintessential approach is a relentless, repetitive "forced rhythm", although some punk rock bass players—such as Mike Watt of the Minutemen and Firehose —emphasize more technical bass lines. Bassists often use a pick due to the rapid succession of notes, making fingerpicking impractical. Drums typically sound heavy and dry, and often have a minimal set-up. Compared to other forms of rock, syncopation
20956-525: The records and radio airplay was hard to come by. Press coverage of punk misbehavior grew intense: On January 4, 1977, The Evening News of London ran a front-page story on how the Sex Pistols "vomited and spat their way to an Amsterdam flight". In February 1977, the first album by a British punk band appeared: Damned Damned Damned (by the Damned) reached number thirty-six on the UK chart. The EP Spiral Scratch , self-released by Manchester's Buzzcocks ,
21125-787: The relocated Tupperwares, now dubbed the Screamers . Black Flag formed in Hermosa Beach in 1976 under the name Panic. They developed a hardcore punk sound and played their debut public performance in a garage in Redondo Beach in December 1977. San Francisco's second wave included the Avengers , The Nuns , Negative Trend , the Mutants , and the Sleepers. By mid-1977 in downtown New York, bands such as Teenage Jesus and
21294-626: The rise of the California bands Green Day , Social Distortion , Rancid , the Offspring , Bad Religion , and NOFX . The anti-government stance and nihilistic impression of the future provided by capitalism united the punk scene in the 1970’s in the United Kingdom as other bands emerged in the 70’s and 80’s like X-Ray Spex and Steel Pulse. The first wave of punk rock was "aggressively modern" and differed from what came before. According to Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone , "In its initial form,
21463-539: The rock scene had become so tame that [acts] like Billy Joel and Simon and Garfunkel were being called rock and roll, when to me and other fans, rock and roll meant this wild and rebellious music." According to Robert Christgau , punk "scornfully rejected the political idealism and Californian flower-power silliness of hippie myth." Hippies were rainbow extremists; punks are romantics of black-and-white. Hippies forced warmth; punks cultivate cool . Hippies kidded themselves about free love ; punks pretend that s&m
21632-574: The same sounds and themes found on Atomizer , showing signs that the band was lagging creatively. Durango later remarked that "I was feeling tapped out ideawise. At that point I think we had tried everything that we wanted to try, musically and in the studio." The members of Big Black have often been asked why we chose to break up (the end of the band having been announced well in advance) just when we were becoming quite popular. The best answer then and now is: To prevent us from overstaying our welcome. – Steve Albini Tensions were also mounting within
21801-595: The scene's DIY ethic and has often been cited as the first punk rock record. By August, Smith and Television were gigging together at Max's Kansas City . In Forest Hills, Queens , the Ramones drew on sources ranging from the Stooges to the Beatles and the Beach Boys to Herman's Hermits and 1960s girl groups, and condensed rock 'n' roll to its primal level: " '1–2–3–4!' bass-player Dee Dee Ramone shouted at
21970-409: The scene: Richard Hell and the Voidoids' first full-length, Blank Generation , and the Heartbreakers' L.A.M.F. One track on the latter exemplified both the scene's close-knit character and the popularity of heroin within it: " Chinese Rocks " — the title refers to a strong form of the drug – was written by Dee Dee Ramone and Hell, both users, as were the Heartbreakers' Thunders and Nolan. (During
22139-471: The second wave that presaged the post-punk phenomenon. Liverpool's first punk group, Big in Japan , moved in a glam, theatrical direction. The band did not survive long, but it spun off several well-known post-punk acts. The songs of London's Wire were characterized by sophisticated lyrics, minimalist arrangements, and extreme brevity. Alongside thirteen original songs that would define classic punk rock,
22308-485: The sharp racial divisions present in Chicago at the time. The word "darkie" appeared in the first line of the Lungs EP, but Albini defended its use as a comical term, saying "in a way that's a play on the concept of a hateful word. Can a word that's so inherently hilarious be hateful? I don't know." He similarly defended his use of gay jokes and the word " fag ": "Given how intermingled the gay and punk subcultures were, it
22477-477: The slaughtering of cows at a Montana abattoir , and "Pigeon Kill", about a rural Indiana town that dealt with an overpopulation of pigeons by feeding them poisoned corn. Even with Bulldozer released, Big Black drew very small crowds in their native Chicago. They began venturing outside of Illinois to play shows in Madison , Minneapolis , Detroit , and Muncie , transporting themselves and their equipment in
22646-400: The song was about the effects of boredom in rural America: "There's only two things to do: Go blow up a whole load of stuff for fun, or have a lot of sex with the one girl in town who'll have sex with anyone. 'Kerosene' is about a guy who tries to combine the two pleasures." Atomizer was a polarizing record that was praised in the national press and became an underground success, surpassing
22815-411: The southeastern town of Hersham . In Durham , there was Penetration , with lead singer Pauline Murray . On September 20–21, the 100 Club Punk Festival in London featured the Sex Pistols, Clash, Damned, and Buzzcocks, as well as Paris's female-lead Stinky Toys . Siouxsie and the Banshees and Subway Sect debuted on the festival's first night. On the festival's second night, audience member Sid Vicious
22984-408: The stage waging war with military precision insistently invading every open orifice with the strength of ten thousand bulls". Musically, Big Black's insistent drum machine rhythms, abrasive textures, and obsessively repeated riffs provided a major part of the blueprint for so-called industrial rock. Their bracingly intense music aside, the saving grace of the band's often obnoxious approach was that it
23153-429: The start of every song as if the group could barely master the rudiments of rhythm." The band played its first show at CBGB in August 1974. By the end of the year, the Ramones had performed seventy-four shows, each about seventeen minutes long. "When I first saw the Ramones", critic Mary Harron later remembered, "I couldn't believe people were doing this. The dumb brattiness." That spring, Smith and Television shared
23322-466: The subject matter, but he insisted that he was not a prejudiced person and was merely satirizing those impulses that rational, civilized persons normally suppress in the course of social interaction: "So once that's given, once you know what you think, there's no reason to be ginger about what you say. A lot of people, they're very careful not to say things that might offend certain people or do anything that might be misinterpreted. But what they don't realize
23491-527: The term in the May 1971 issue of Creem , where he described ? and the Mysterians as giving a "landmark exposition of punk rock". Later in 1971, in his fanzine Who Put the Bomp , Greg Shaw wrote about "what I have chosen to call "punkrock" bands—white teenage hard rock of '64–66 ( Standells , Kingsmen, Shadows of Knight , etc.)". Lester Bangs used the term "punk rock" in several articles written in
23660-399: The time Racer-X was released, stating in the last sentence of the EP's liner notes that "The next one's gonna make you shit your pants." Big Black's first LP , 1986's Atomizer , found the band at their most musically developed and aggressive level yet. Riley's funk background brought a slightly greater sense of melody and danceability to the band, while Albini and Durango's guitar work
23829-402: The time, people seemed overly concerned about the literal meaning of our lyrics. I know we never discussed it amongst ourselves. Lyrics seemed a necessity, so we had them, but the subject matter was an extension of our interests — not part of a political or aesthetic battle plan. The lyrics were subject to change at whim once the subject had been decided on anyway. Anybody who thinks we overstepped
23998-539: The time." Many of his songs told miniature short stories of sociopaths doing evil things that the average person might merely contemplate. Some, such as "Cables", "Pigeon Kill", and "Jordan, Minnesota", were based on real events, or things that Albini had witnessed during his Montana upbringing. He compared the stories to Ripley's Believe It or Not! , saying that "If you stumble across something like this, you think 'This can't be!' But it turns out to be true, and that makes it even wilder." It seems preposterous now, but at
24167-469: The time: Steve Albini , Mission of Burma , Sonic Youth , Lydia Lunch , Chris D. , Tesco Vee, et cetera. The last issue of the magazine, #18, was released in 1993. Forced Exposure now exists as a distributor of CDs and vinyl records. One reviewer said of the magazine, "What separates Forced Exposure from other alternative music and art magazines is the intelligence and intensity of its editorial style". This music magazine or journal–related article
24336-430: 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." Both Albini and Riley described Big Black as a punk rock band. AllMusic has associated their sound with both hardcore and post-punk and described them as influential to indie rock as well as pioneers of noise rock and post-hardcore . A major component of Big Black's music
24505-455: The tolerance of his white liberal audience by mercilessly satirizing racism , sexism , chauvinism , and stereotypes of homosexuality , sometimes using pejoratives like "darkie" and " fag " to drive home the point; this led some listeners to consider him a bigot . It meant nothing to us if we were popular or not, or if we sold either a million or no records, so we were invulnerable to ploys by music scene weasels to get us to make mistakes in
24674-481: The traditional corporate trappings of rock bands . In doing so, they had a significant impact on the aesthetic and political development of independent and underground rock music. In addition to two studio albums, Big Black released two live albums , two compilation albums , four EPs , and five singles , all through independent record labels . Most of the band's catalog was kept in print through Touch and Go Records for years following their breakup. Big Black
24843-508: The unemployment and social unrest in 1977, "punk's nihilistic swagger was the most thrilling thing in England." While "self-imposed alienation " was common among "drunk punks" and "gutter punks", there was always a tension between their nihilistic outlook and the "radical leftist utopianism" of bands such as Crass , who found positive, liberating meaning in the movement. As a Clash associate describes singer Joe Strummer 's outlook, "Punk rock
25012-409: The usual corporate trappings of rock bands: "If you don't use contracts, you don't have any contracts to worry about. If you don't have a tour rider, you don't have a tour rider to argue about. If you don't have a booking agent, you don't have a booking agent to argue with." Handling the tour booking, equipment hauling, setup, and breakdown of shows themselves also meant that the band did not have to hire
25181-501: The vitriol he regularly directed at Chicago's rock scene: by 1985, the Metro Chicago was the only club in the city that was booking punk rock shows and was also large enough to accommodate Big Black, but after performing there Albini badmouthed the club in an interview and found himself banned from it permanently. Compounding the problem were the band's aggressive, noise-driven sound and Albini's confrontational lyrics, which tested
25350-435: The world. Ed Kuepper , co-founder of the Saints, later recalled: One thing I remember having had a really depressing effect on me was the first Ramones album. When I heard it [in 1976], I mean it was a great record [...] but I hated it because I knew we'd been doing this sort of stuff for years. There was even a chord progression on that album that we used [...] and I thought, "Fuck. We're going to be labeled as influenced by
25519-470: Was a benchmark for both the DIY ethic and regionalism in the country's punk movement. The Clash 's self-titled debut album came out two months later and rose to number twelve; the single " White Riot " entered the top forty. In May, the Sex Pistols achieved new heights of controversy (and number two on the singles chart) with " God Save the Queen ". The band had recently acquired a new bassist, Sid Vicious , who
25688-508: Was arrested for having thrown a glass at the Damned that shattered and destroyed a girl's eye. Press coverage of the incident reinforced punk's reputation as a social menace. Some new bands, such as London's Ultravox !, Edinburgh's Rezillos , Manchester's the Fall, and Leamington 's the Shapes , identified with the scene even as they pursued more experimental music. Others of a comparatively traditional rock 'n' roll bent were also swept up by
25857-484: Was assumed by anyone involved that open-mindedness, if not free-form experimentation, was the norm. With that assumption under your belt, joke all you like. The word 'fag' isn't just a gay term, it's funny on its own — phonetically — like the words ' hockey puck ,' ' mukluks ,' ' gefilte fish ,' and 'Canada. ' " Some critics viewed these defenses as mere justifications for actual deep-seated racism, homophobia, and misogyny on Albini's part, given his level of familiarity with
26026-431: Was characterized by distinctively clanky guitars and the use of a drum machine rather than a drum kit , elements that foreshadowed industrial rock . The band's lyrics flouted commonly held taboos and dealt frankly—and often explicitly—with politically and culturally loaded topics including murder , rape , child sexual abuse , arson , racism , and misogyny . Though the band's lyrics contained controversial material,
26195-466: Was founded by Steve Albini in 1981 during his second year of college at Northwestern University . Albini had become a fan of punk rock during his high school years in Missoula, Montana , and taught himself to play bass guitar in the fall of 1979, his senior year, while recuperating from a badly broken leg resulting from being struck by a car while riding his motorcycle. Moving to Evanston, Illinois
26364-612: Was influenced by a number of genres and artists. Albini was a fan of punk rock bands including Suicide , the Ramones , the Stooges , and Naked Raygun . When Riley joined the band in 1985 he brought with him a funk background, having worked at a Detroit studio where George Clinton and Sly Stone had recorded. During their career Big Black recorded cover versions of songs from a number of styles including post-punk , new wave , funk, hard rock , synthpop , and R&B ; these included Rema-Rema 's "Rema-Rema", James Brown 's " The Payback ", Wire 's " Heartbeat ", Cheap Trick 's "He's
26533-467: Was largely devoted to discussion of 1960s garage and psychedelic acts. In May 1974, Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn reviewed the second New York Dolls album, Too Much Too Soon . "I told ya the New York Dolls were the real thing," he wrote, describing the album as "perhaps the best example of raw, thumb-your-nose-at-the-world, punk rock since the Rolling Stones ' Exile on Main Street ." In
26702-408: Was more aggressive than contemporary punk rock . Albini explained that the band strove for intensity, stating that their goal was to make "something that felt intense when we went through it, rather than something that had little coded indicators of intensity. 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
26871-492: Was more violent than ever before. Michael Azerrad comments that "by this time Big Black had both refined the ideas first suggested on Lungs and exploded them into something much huger than anyone but Albini had ever imagined", while Mark Deming of Allmusic states that the album "upped the ante on the musical and lyrical ferocity of Big Black's previous body of work, an unrelenting assault of guitar sounds and imagined violence of all sorts." Albini later remarked that "we just had
27040-404: Was not so much playing guitars, but assembling noises created by guitars." He and Albini respectively billed their guitars as "vroom" and "skinng" in the liner notes for Atomizer . Mark Deming of AllMusic remarks that "The group's guitars alternately sliced like a machete and ground like a dentist's drill, creating a groundbreaking and monolithic dissonance in the process." Big Black's music
27209-447: Was often looked on with suspicion. According to Holmstrom, punk rock was "rock and roll by people who didn't have very many skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music". In December 1976, the English fanzine Sideburns published a now-famous illustration of three chords, captioned "This is a chord, this is another, this is a third. Now form a band". British punk rejected contemporary mainstream rock,
27378-464: Was published: The Boy Looked at Johnny , by Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons . In February 1977, EMI released the Saints ' debut album, (I'm) Stranded , which the band recorded in two days. The Saints had relocated to Sydney; in April, they and Radio Birdman united for a major gig at Paddington Town Hall . Last Words had also formed in the city. The following month, the Saints relocated again, to Great Britain. In June, Radio Birdman released
27547-404: Was replaced by Dave Riley , who joined Big Black the week of Racer-X 's release in April 1985. Riley had moved to Chicago in 1982 from Detroit, where he had worked at a studio where funk artists George Clinton and Sly Stone had recorded (he is credited as a recording engineer on Parliament 's Trombipulation and Funkadelic 's The Electric Spanking of War Babies ). In Chicago he joined
27716-509: Was seen as exemplifying the punk persona. The swearing during the Grundy interview and the controversy over "God Save the Queen" led to a moral panic . Scores of new punk groups formed around the United Kingdom, as far from London as Belfast 's Stiff Little Fingers and Dunfermline , Scotland's the Skids . Though most survived only briefly, perhaps recording a small-label single or two, others set off new trends. Crass , from Essex , merged
27885-634: Was the Headache EP in spring 1987. The cover artwork for the limited original edition of the EP was a pair of forensic photos of an accident victim whose head had been split down the middle, and the record was packaged in a black plastic "body bag" to conceal the artwork from sensitive consumers. A sticker on the EP's cover read "Not as good as Atomizer , so don't get your hopes up, cheese!" According to Durango, "We didn't want to sit there and screw people. If we felt it wasn't as good, then we should just be honest about it." Indeed, Headache recycled many of
28054-429: Was the drum machine . Rather than attempt to make it emulate the sound of a normal drum kit , the band chose to exploit the idiosyncrasies of its synthetic sounds. On many songs Albini programmed it to accent the first and third beats of the bar , rather than the second and fourth beats typically accented in rock music. "The effect was a monolithic pummeling, an attack", says Michael Azerrad , "their groove , normally
28223-401: Was the first person to use the word " motherfucker " in a song title and also directly influenced the Clash . In August 1969, the Stooges , from Ann Arbor , premiered with a self-titled album . According to critic Greil Marcus , the band, led by singer Iggy Pop , created "the sound of Chuck Berry 's Airmobile —after thieves stripped it for parts". The album was produced by John Cale ,
28392-431: Was thought-provoking. Big Black set a standard for freedom of expression and forthrightness that has been emulated to varying degrees ever since. – Michael Azerrad Through their aggressive guitar playing and use of a drum machine, Big Black's music served as a precursor to industrial rock . Aesthetically, the band's firmly-held ideals, staunch independence, insistence on creative control, and stark lyrical topics had
28561-605: Was to come. Glam rock in the UK and the New York Dolls from New York have also been cited as key influences. Between 1974 and 1976, when the genre that became known as punk was developing, prominent acts included Television , Patti Smith , and the Ramones in New York City; the Saints in Brisbane ; the Sex Pistols , the Clash , and the Damned in London, and the Buzzcocks in Manchester. By late 1976, punk had become
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