{"title":"Big Black","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBig Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun. In 1985, Pezzati was replaced by Dave Riley.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTheir aggressive and abrasive music was characterized by distinctively clanky guitars and the use of a drum machine rather than a drum kit. The band's lyrics dealt frankly with politically and culturally loaded topics including murder, rape, child sexual abuse, arson, racism, and misogyny. However, these controversial lyrics were meant to serve as a commentary or a display of distaste for the subject matter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBig Black shunned the mainstream music industry and insisted on complete control over all aspects of their career. They booked their own tours, paid for their own recordings, refused to sign contracts, and eschewed many of the traditional corporate trappings of rock bands. Their staunch criticism of the commercial nature of rock set them apart in the industry.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"songs-about-fucking","title":"Songs About Fucking","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe final studio album from Albini and gang. Blistering and burning till the end, this is utterly essential. Features their cover of Kraftwerk's \u003ci\u003eThe Model\u003c\/i\u003e. It's the sound of a band hurtling towards its own destruction and relishing every second. A breathless tumult of programmed drums, shredding guitars and bad attitude...reaching a brutal apotheosis.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Remastered by Steve Albini and Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering, housed in a single-pocket LP jacket with 11\" x 11\" insert and Download.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Touch and Go","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":50424472338763,"sku":"253526","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50424471683403,"sku":"151015","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e88697fe-5af4-4da3-a6b2-864616bdf1c5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726778642"},{"product_id":"bulldozer-1","title":"Bulldozer","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBulldozer\u003c\/i\u003e is the second EP by Big Black, originally released in 1983. It was their first release to feature an actual band performing, including Pat Byrne from Urge Overkill playing drums on some of the songs in addition to the Roland TR-606 drum machine that provided rhythm tracks on Big Black's early records. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn \u003ci\u003eBulldozer\u003c\/i\u003e, Big Black's founder and frontman Steve Albini achieved 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 \u003ci\u003eBulldozer\u003c\/i\u003e 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 midwest upbringing, such as \"Cables\", which described 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. The EP's final song, \"Jump the Climb,\" was recorded by Albini before the addition of his bandmates.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Touch and Go","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50431800967499,"sku":"257101","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/https___images.genius.com_23232f8b28468acd8180b56e67d1cd2d.1000x1000x1_da354.jpg?v=1726860127"},{"product_id":"lungs-1","title":"Lungs","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLungs\u003c\/i\u003e is the first EP by American post-hardcore band Big Black. It was released on December 1982 on Ruthless Records and was reissued in 1992 on Touch and Go Records. A 19-year-old Steve Albini played nearly every instrument on \u003ci\u003eLungs\u003c\/i\u003e, with \"sax bleats\" by Albini's college friend John Bohnen and drums being handled by \"Roland,\" a drum machine that was credited as a member of the band. The EP was used to recruit the other members of Big Black. Lungs was recorded on a TEAC 3340 loaned to Albini in exchange for a case of beer. The original EP came with an array of objects, including loaded squirt guns, bloody pieces of paper (one of Albini's friends suffered from a nosebleed), dollar bills, condoms, concert tickets, Bruce Lee trading cards, pictures of old people and firecrackers. Things like fishhooks and razorblades were discounted, fearing lawsuits.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Touch and Go","offers":[{"title":"Black | 12\"","offer_id":50460555477323,"sku":"151010","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/12640696-ef6d-45d2-a49a-d12ae782eb15_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727234357"},{"product_id":"pig-pile","title":"Pig Pile","description":"\u003cp\u003eRecorded live in london in 1987, during the last Big Black tour, 'pig pile' opens in the band's typically charming manner with bassist dave riley announcing \"this song is called 'dingy little back alley of a country',\" before the band launches into a punishing 46-minute set. the concert includes material from the band's first ep, 'lungs', all the way up through 1987s 'songs about fucking'. the band's confrontational live sound emphasizes crackling, extremely harsh guitar and very brittle drums. in true punk rock style, the treble has been turned up as far as possible. 'cables' - about slaughterhouses and 'jordan, minnesota' - about a pedophilia scandal-both appear in radically sped-up versions. 'kerosene' is introduced as \"a song jerry lee lewis wrote before he killed one of his wives,\" and steve albini's vocals are nearly buried beneath heaped shards of guitar shrapnel in 'steelworker.' while there is no substitute for actually living through the big black live experience, 'pig pile' - both on record and in its video form-documents one of the relatively few instances in history when music was actually dangerous.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Touch and Go","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50480035791179,"sku":"151012","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50480036151627,"sku":"151011","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Pig_Pile_2431868f_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727515489"},{"product_id":"hammer-party","title":"Hammer Party","description":"\u003cp\u003ethe hammer party cd contains the first three big black eps - 'lung', 'bulldozer', and 'racer x'. 'racer x' in particular hinted that big black was about to trash anyone's expectations of what three pissed-off midwestern punk geeks could pull off with the help of a beat-box and too much beer...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Touch and Go","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50490852245835,"sku":"151007","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/b276e29f-1025-4eb2-bf1b-36b89fa54f78_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727676865"},{"product_id":"cancelled-2","title":"Cancelled","description":"\u003cp\u003eMötley Crüe returns with the Cancelled EP, their first new music release since 2019 and first release with Big Machine Label Group. The Crüe are back to remind fans why they remain “The World's Most Notorious Rock Band\" 40+ years into their career.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Big Machine Rock","offers":[{"title":"Red 12\"","offer_id":50509342572875,"sku":"2218619","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Cancelled_-_EP_52324122_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727864315"},{"product_id":"racer-x","title":"Racer X","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in 1983 on Homestead Records and re-released on Touch And Go Records in 1992. Recently remastered by Steve Albini and Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering. Includes coupon for an MP3 download of the album.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Touch and Go","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50530052637003,"sku":"369912","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/05b6dd68-48fa-47ad-8ae0-aea4c20cdf42_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728071502"},{"product_id":"atomizer","title":"Atomizer","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAtomizer\u003c\/strong\u003e is a wailing behemoth of assaultive Roland beats, \u003cstrong\u003eSteve Albini\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eSantiago Durango\u003c\/strong\u003e's clanging and whirring guitars, and new member \u003cstrong\u003eDave Riley\u003c\/strong\u003e's lumberjack bass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTheir musical invention went a couple steps further, most obviously on the warped-beyond-recognition guitars of \"\u003cem\u003ePassing Complexion\u003c\/em\u003e\" and \"\u003cem\u003eKerosene\u003c\/em\u003e.\" The latter is undeniably \u003cstrong\u003eBig Black\u003c\/strong\u003e'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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Touch and Go","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50530972959051,"sku":"393581","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Atomizer_Remastered_23392bcc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728089627"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_b2fe839d_thumbnail_4096_d6a9cbd6-3004-44fc-b835-37ad6f2dad76.jpg?v=1726778610","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/big-black.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}