BIG BLACK: ATOMIZER (1986)
1) Jordan, Minnesota; 2)
Passing Complexion; 3) Big Money; 4) Kerosene; 5) Bad Houses; 6) Fists Of Love;
7) Stinking Drunk; 8) Bazooka Joe; 9) Strange Things; 10) Cables (live).
When you follow Bulldozer up with Atomizer,
chances are you are not really in the
mood for significantly changing your formula. Indeed, the basic ingredients all
remain the same: Albini's «clanging» guitar tone as the main attraction,
pummeling industrialized beats and tempos as the main framework, and lyrics
about perverts and perversions as the main subject of reference. Also, the
entire LP runs just over half an hour, which probably is the longest possible time one could listen to this sonic
nightmare without getting well-adjusted, numbed down, and bored. In fact, were
it up to me, I'd probably cut it down by another five or ten minutes, because
the EP format works best with the likes of Big Black.
With the formula set so tightly in place, the
overall quality of the album depends on how many different and emotionally
evocative riffs / grooves / arrangements the band can offer, and, fortunately,
Albini's creative juices are peaking — almost every one of these nine songs
delivers, one way or another. The central piece, bravely extended to a six-minute
running time, is ʽKeroseneʼ; from a classificatory angle, it would probably
count as «hardcore industrialized funk», with relatively complex (for Big
Black) interplay between the bass and guitars and several crescendos that
perfectly match the song's lyrical message ("never anything to do in this
town... there's kerosene around, something to do... set me on fire,
kerosene!"). Few songs have managed to tackle the «violence born out of
boredom» topic so efficiently, as Steve's guitar goes from high-pitched,
monotonous, whiny funk chords («boredom») to shrill, crackling, ascending lines
— musical flames engulfing the listener. Fabulously cool and inventive.
The shorter songs are predictably less
ambitious — just state their simple, repetitive points for a brief interval of
time to give way to the next sketch in the «Panoramas of Perversion» series.
ʽJordan, Minnesotaʼ takes on the issue of a 1983 scandal of child abuse in
said little town, and I'd bet anything Albini was particularly happy that the little town was named after the holy
river, throwing the issue of hypocrisy into the mix. The song's main riff has
nothing particularly original about it, but sounds double-threatening when
played Albini-style, and by the time the song has burst into complete hysteria,
with insane screams of «suck daddy, suck daddy, suck daddy!» almost drowning
out the guitar background, you may well be itching for a nice hot shower. Exploitative
to the core, yes, but effective.
Other, ahem, «highlights» for me would have to
be ʽFists Of Loveʼ — the subject matter is easy enough to guess, and all the
melodic lines have been specially selected and received the Steve Albini Stamp
of Approval for Matching Physical Pain; and ʽBazooka Joeʼ, which is about as
complex as your average Ramones song, but still generates a certain trance-inducing
effect — Steve's «pleading-aggressive» repetitive mantra of "you don't
have to be alone Joe... hang with me Joe...", recited over the song's dark
rhythm pattern, may act funny on the brain.
The rest of the songs are difficult to describe
in any other terms than the ones already used, but what really saves Atomizer from becoming «filler city»,
even with this short overall length, is that each song works as its own
separate anecdote — you are walking here through a picture exhibition, glaring
at child molesters, bored kids in provincial shitholes, sexual deviants, whorehouse
clients, corrupt policemen, alcoholics, and racial issues. It doesn't always
sound different from each other, but it's one hell of a panorama, and I'd say
it elevates the level of social consciousness far more efficiently than, say,
any given sermon-riddled LP by Bad Religion. Definitely not just «gross for
grossness' sake», Atomizer never really
overcooks its slum-taste pasta, so here is another thumbs up in return.
Check "Atomizer" (MP3) on Amazon
Mmmm....'slum-taste pasta.'
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