steve albini Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Big Black “Racer-X”

sfilzen — Wed, 08 May 2024 17:40:32 +0000

Big Black “Racer-X” 1985. Homestead Records. Just found out that Steve Albini died of a heart attack yesterday, May 7th, at age 61. I’ve had a fondness for Albini for a long time – not only do we share a birthday (July 22nd though he is/was 9 years older than me), but as he was from Chicago there were a lot of Wisconsin (Milwaukee/Madison) connections – like some of my friends were on call-him-directly levels of connection. And of course he produced/engineered a ton of some of my favorite albums/artists. We last saw Albini perform (as Shellac) literally as the world was shutting down in March 2020 at Turner Hall in Milwaukee where he gave a special shout-out to Milwaukee’s Couch Flambeau (CF’s Jay Tiller was in the audience) crediting the band for helping shape Albini’s sound.

Steve Albini (Shellac) Turner Hall March 2020

Racer-X was Big Black’s third EP, a tight collection of industrial noise-core tracks. Appearing on the EP with Albini were two members of Naked Raygun: Santiago Durango (guitar) and Jeff Pezzati (bass) – it would be Pezzati’s last time playing on a Big Black recording. Albini has both guitar and vocal credits. Drums performed by “Roland” (a Roland TR-606 drum machine). My top tracks are “The Ugly American” (featuring John Bonhen on saxophone) and the snarled funk of both “Deep Six” and the cover of James Brown’s “The Big Payback” but really all six tracks are killer.

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Couch Flambeau “Bunny Hideout”

sfilzen — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 18:54:59 +0000

Couch Flambeau “Bunny Hideout” 2021. It’s Only a Record Records. New music from an old punk band, Couch Flambeau has been rocking out, hilariously, since the early 80’s and Bunny Hideout is their latest release – their last, I believe, was back in ’98. My friend Blaine reviewed the record for Shepherd Express last year and I’m going to liberally quote him here because it’s a great article. Couch Flambeau decided to record a new album – over 20 years since the last one – because, as guitarist/singer Jay Tiller explained to Blaine, “We decided it was time for a record to be made that was pure rock. Drive your car with the windows down and blast-it ROCK MUSIC. New rock music you can blast in your car when the sun is finally out is in short supply.” Bassist Neil Socol added that the pandemic was also an influence: “I think it was a great way of staying productive and really focused on the project. Not much in the way of distractions with rehearsals or shows to worry about.”

More from Blaine: “True to form, the songs on Bunny Hideout retain the dark, absurdist humor in the lyrics and music that is as challenging as Frank Zappa and as catchy as the Beatles. If you are looking for traditional verse/chorus song structures, though, you might have to look elsewhere.” Bunny Hideout is all at once noise rock, melodic, proggy, metal, punk and absurd. My top tracks skew heavily local: though I’m no football fan, the track “The Pack is Back” could be a new, seasonal state anthem and “Funky Christmas” continues the loving ribbing that Couch Flambeau frequently lays on Cudahy (non-Milwaukee folks: Cudahy is a suburb of sorts to Milwaukee on Lake Michigan that is the home to the Patrick Cudahy meat processing company — the small city always smells vaguely of bacon) on “Funky Christmas” (best verse: “Santa’s on his way, tremendous trash is in his sleigh. If you’re from Cudahy, he’s skipping you today!”). Also fun and super-silly is “Grape Kool Aid” (I can feel Jay’s late 60’s/early 70’s childhood vividly) and the weird juxtaposition between heavy-thrash and woodland creatures on “Bunny Hideout” is brilliant.

Couch Flambeau are probably not well-known outside of Milwaukee (and even inside Milwaukee probably only by a certain demographic) but they had a pretty significant influence on punk and noise rock in the Midwest in the 80’s. On the eve of the pandemic shutdown in March 2020, we caught Shellac at Turner Hall here in Milwaukee. Steve Albini made a special shout-out to Couch Flambeau – Jay Tiller was in the audience – crediting the band for helping shape his sound. Bunny Hideout was recorded at Albini’s studio in Chicago; again from Blaine’s article: “An uncredited cameo by Electrical Audio owner Steve Albini’s cat Pip makes an appearance on the record.”

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Boss Hog “Cold Hands”

sfilzen — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 21:00:41 +0000

Boss Hog “Cold Hands” released 30 years ago today, November 16th, 1990. Amphetamine Reptile Records. Produced by Steve Albini. Punk blues/noise rock, Cold Hands is Boss Hog’s was the band’s first full length release (their EP Drinkin’, Lechin’ & Lyin’ came out in ‘89, also produced by Albini) with their original line-up: über-cool couple Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez, along with noise rock notables – Kurt Wolf (guitar, also in Spencer’s band Pussy Galore), Charlie Ondras (drums, also in noise rockers Unsane; he died in ‘92) and Jerry Teel (guitar, also in Honeymoon Killers), and joined by new addition Pete Shore (bass, guitar). It’s loud, crazy, noisy, crazed and awesome. My top tracks are the opener “Gerard,” the malevolent “Eddy,” the industrial-noise “Red Bull,” the growling slink of “Go Wrong” and “Pop Catastrophe.” “Pop Catastrophe” is particularly great because its title spawned the name for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s archivist’s webpage: http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk.

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Pixies “Surfer Rosa”

sfilzen — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 15:07:31 +0000

Pixies “Surfer Rosa” 4AD/Rough Trade. Released 30 years ago today, March 21st, 1988. The Pixies first full-length LP (released a year after the EP Come On Pilgrim) is still hailed as one of the best alternative rock albums of all-time and cited as inspiration by musicians like PJ Harvey and Kurt Cobain (who hired Steve Albini, recording engineer for Surfer Rosa, to work on Nirvana’s In Utero).

Even 30 years later, Surfer Rosa sounds and feels fresh and revolutionary. Soooo many amazing tracks: the killer tension of “Bone Machine,” the weird guitar and vocal edges on “Break My Body” and “River Euphrates” and the breakneck punk pace of “Broken Face” and “Vamos.” The musical density offset by the sweetness of Kim Deal’s vocals on “Gigantic” is perfection. “Tony’s Theme” has always been a favorite (especially of friends of mine named Tony). And then there’s the gorgeous “Where Is My Mind?” which regained popularity (notoriety) with its inclusion many TV shows, commercials and movies – most notably 1999′s Fight Club – and is considered the Pixies signature song, with prominent use of “loud-quiet-loud” composition.

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Big Black “Songs About F–king”

sfilzen — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 16:39:22 +0000

Big Black “Songs About F–king” Touch and Go Records. Yesterday, September 10th, marked the 30th anniversary of Big Black’s final LP release in 1987. Steve Albini began Big Black in ‘81 as a one-man sound machine and was soon joined by members of Naked Raygun, releasing several EP’s and singles and one other LP (Atomizer). Big Black knew Songs would be their last recording and intended it to be – as the title more than subtly implies – a big middle finger to everyone and everything, the songs all teeth-rattling industrial noise rock filled with lyrics about the monstrous tendencies of the human condition. The title was also a direct response to the censorship impulse of the 80′s; Ablini stated in a recent Rolling Stone interview “the Parents’ Music Resource Center was trying to rein in the subject matter of popular music and art at the time. We wanted to explicitly decline to participate in that reining in. We wanted to make filthy music. We wanted to make our records. We wanted to be explicit about our willingness to offend people.“

Songs is not an easy record to listen to – it’s rage on vinyl, darker than midnight, violent and anxiety-producing (my heart rate has noticeably increased just listening to it). “Fish Fry,” seems innocuous enough at the start, the title Midwest-adorable, the beat a bit bouncy, but then atonal guitar dissonance screams through with a tale about a murder after a fish fry. Another song, “Columbian Necktie,” details a particularly brutal form of killing and “Kasimir S. Pulaski Day” a mobster shooting. “Bad Penny” is about the scenester asshole that sleeps with all the girlfriends. Conclusion: people suck. Thank goodness for the cover of Kraftwerk’s “The Model” which provides some lyrical relief – just a model, being beautiful, drinking champagne, no blood or violence.

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Big Black “Il Duce”

sfilzen — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 17:31:35 +0000

Big Black “Il Duce” b/w “Big Money” 1985. Homestead Records. Some loud, dark protest industrial music with perfectly paired titles for this moment, around noon on January 20th, 2017. “Il Duce” means “the chief” in Italian and Mussolini notoriously used the phrase as his dictatorial title during WWII. The song begins with an ominous drone that quickly increases into a beat that drills into your head with the speed and grace of a chainsaw.

I am Benito
I am Benito
I am Benito
And I like my job
They gave me this house
And gave me this car
They gave me the cities and streets
When they gave me this job
I am Benito
And I like my job
I am Benito
And I like my job
I am Benito
I am Benito
I am Benito
I like my job

“Big Money,” a track that appears on their full-length Atomizer release, is equally brutal in sonic intensity and furious rage at an inegalitarian and flawed capitalist system.

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Big Black “The Hammer Party”

sfilzen — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 13:51:55 +0000

Big Black “The Hammer Party” 1986. Homestead Records. A re-release of Big Black’s first two EP’s: Side 1 is from “Lungs” (1982) and Side 2 is from “Bulldozer” (1983).

Steve Albini’s (along with members of Naked Raygun) industrial/post-punk project is hard, heavy, dark and confrontational. Stark and relentless drum-machine beats, steel-y metal (the substance, not the musical style) guitar*, harsh vocals as if through a tin can with obvious influences of bands like Killing Joke, PiL and the Cure.

The run-off groove on Side A has a little, and rather adorable, Batman logo scribble.

*So after I wrote that, I started reading a bit about the sound of Big Black on-line and sure enough Albini created his “signature “clanky” sound by using metal guitar picks notched with sheet metal clips; the notch causing the pick to hit each string twice, creating the effect of two simultaneous guitar picks.”

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