Big Black - Kerosene

Album: Atomizer (Blast First,1986) Chart pos:N/A

Blessed are the geeks who inherit the earth.



Another band that 90% of people haven't heard of, but at the same time you would of possibly heard some of the records that the lead singer produced (or recorded as he puts it). The man in question Steve Albini has had a fascinating career from punk rock obscurity to major producer working with the likes of Page & Plant, Nirvana, Bush and The Pixies despite being one of the most spartan and anti-corporate producers in the industry.

In his previous life as lead singer of Big Black, Albini perfected a kind a raw, noisy pseudo-industrial music with loud distorted guitars over a tinny drum machine. Lyrically Albini set its lyrics in some dark, violent small town milieu full of tales of incest, rape and spousal abuse. The song Kerosenes tale of small town angst is the main highlight off their debut album.

The cover of one of thier early Ep's Headache had pictures of shotgun victims after they'd blown thier head off on the cover. It was so so shocking record stores had to put plastic bags over the EP. I can remember buying the 'Rich Mans Six Track' as a teenager and opening it to find the words 'all you pussies can suck our cocks' and a pissed off rant about the CD format on the inlay cover. Thats pretty badass especially coming from a guy that looked like an accountant.