Atomizer

Product Information

My copy (bought new in '86) has white labels, plain white inner sleeve with a printed insert, so make of that what you will. Big Black was started by Steve Albini in 1982 while he was attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In the year after Atomizer's release, Big Black recorded their 4-song Headache EP and released it with a sticker that bore the words, "Warning!

Steve's guitar is the distance between ice and hoarfrost, the lyrics archetypal of on the edge sociopath, or maybe just a frustrated disc-jockey. The label sent the promo 12" to radio stations, then sold extra copies outside of Big Black's native Chicago, hoping the band would never find out. The CD omitted track 9 "Strange Things", as well as the artwork and liner notes from the original records. You should take every opportunity to scratch them, fingerprint them, and eat egg and bacon sandwiches off them. That same year, the band recorded and released the 7” of ‘The Model’ / ‘He’s A Whore’ as well as their second full-length album, ‘Songs About Fucking’.Reviewing for The Village Voice in September 1986, Robert Christgau wrote that, "Though they don't want you to know it, these hateful little twerps are sensitive souls—they're moved to make this godawful racket by the godawful pain of the world, which they learn about reading everything from textbooks to bondage mags. Pezzati was replaced by Dave Riley, an audio engineer who worked closely with Parliament/ Funkadelic. Homestead Records also issued "Big Money" and "Il Duce" the A-side of a 12" record with three live songs on the B-side (including the live version of "Cables" that would appear on Atomizer) with the agreement that the 12" be used for promotional purposes only.

Atomizer was originally planned for release sometime in late 1985 – however, the band ran into some legal issues with the album cover, which originally featured Marvin the Martian. In addition to the ones mentioned below, the album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The song "Kerosene" has been covered by Kerbdog (as a b-side to their single " End of Green" [22]), Pitchshifter (on the "enhanced" version of their album Deviant [23]), Lamb of God (on their album Legion: XX, under their original name Burn the Priest [24]) and St. By 1984, the band haddone some touring and recorded the ‘Racer X’ EP andthe start of the ‘Il Duce’ 7”.Soon after, Steve recruited Jeff Pezzati (Naked Raygun) on bass and Santiago Durango (also Naked Raygun) joined them on guitar. One song from the album, "Big Money", was released as a B-side to the " Il Duce" single prior to the release of Atomizer. It's also Albini at his most plainspoken and bleak: "Stare at the wall/Stare at each other and wait 'til we die.