1987, Music

Songs About Fucking (1987) by Big Black

What probably sounded unbelievably loud – not to mention offensive to a lot of people – has mellowed considerably nearly thirty years later. So much of this record (or even the band’s oeuvre, perhaps) has integrated into alternative rock and even some indie rock. Hell, it doesn’t even sound very noisy compared to what’s being made these days. But I am not trying to sell Songs About Fucking short, not for a moment.

This is a loud, angry, deliberately difficult statement. Like no doubt many others, I am listening to the bastardized digital version rather than the LP, but even that is pretty metallic and unfriendly. (That being said, “noise rock” is considerably more noisy these days. This is downright melodic for the genre.)

As someone who is kind of obsessed with music history, this actually sounds to me like a fairly crucial link to me between the hardcore punk of the late ’70s and early ’80s and the most extreme alternative / early indie / pop industrial bands of the early ’90s. I now have a hard time conceiving of that stuff without this band – though I’ve obviously just heard this record.

As for the supposedly horrible controversial lyrics:

  1. observing is not endorsing and I think people who think he is being entirely genuine aren’t listening to the lyrics;
  2. things have changed -what was really really offensive in 1987 really isn’t so now – if this strikes you as offensive just look up some Anal Cunt song titles.

9/10

All tracks written by Big Black, except where noted.

  1. “The Power of Independent Trucking” 1:27
  2. “The Model” Karl Bartos, Ralf Hütter, Emil Schult 2:34
  3. “Bad Penny” 2:33
  4. “L Dopa” 1:40
  5. “Precious Thing” 2:20
  6. “Colombian Necktie” 2:14
  7. “Kitty Empire” 4:01
  8. “Ergot” 2:27
  9. “Kasimir S. Pulaski Day” 2:28
  10. “Fish Fry” 2:06
  11. “Pavement Saw” 2:12
  12. “Tiny, King of the Jews” 2:31
  13. “Bombastic Intro” 0:35
  • Dave Riley – bass guitar
  • Santiago Durango – guitar
  • Steve Albini: guitar, vocals
  • “Roland” (an E-mu Drumulator drum machine) – drums

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.