Rapeman

Steve Albini is an independent-rock renaissance man. The outspoken producer, guitarist, lyricist, writer, and DIY music advocate first emerged in Chicago in the early '80s while still a journalism student at Northwestern. Big Black began as a solo project. As the band developed, it became notable for imposing the physical impact of American hardcore and the unconventional racket of post–no wave noise onto the stern melodicism of early English art punks like Wire, Gang of Four, and PiL. Albini's subsequent groups, Rapeman and Shellac, refined the approach with technical precision and a flirtation with the chunky riffs of ’70s hard rock. A strong critic of slick pop, the CD format, managers, and major-label business practices, Albini has paved the way for countless other musical free-thinkers. In the ’90s, he became a prominent engineer; his visceral, naturalistic recording techniques bombarded the mainstream on records by Nirvana, PJ Harvey, and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

The six-song Lungs developmentally sketches Big Black’s 1982 beginnings. The basic formula - numbing drum machine, trebly guitar, hoarse vocals, and sensationalistic lyrics - is laid out but more closely resembles anemic new wave than raging fury. Albini’s project expanded with the addition of Jeff Pezatti and Santiago Durango of Naked Raygun, a group who, along with Big Black, helped define Chicago postpunk. Future Urge Overkill drummer Pat Byrne briefly joined them on the more forceful Bulldozer. Racer-X introduces a less rinky-dink, massively effective drum machine and increased violence in the guitar department. The lineup stabilized for Big Black’s first full-length LP, 1986’s Atomizer. Low in the mix, Albini shrieks and growls stories from the Midwest’s underbelly, unflinchingly detailing brutal sex (“Fists of Love”), arson (“Kerosene”), and child molestation (“Jordan, Minnesota”). Bassist Dave Riley’s fractured funk edge brightens the Herculean beats, ultradistorted guitar leads, and punctuations of feedback. The trio ruled the American and European undergrounds as the Headache EP and the precise, tightly wound Songs About Fucking capped off Big Black’s career. (The live Pigpile, also released as a box set, coincided with Touch and Go Records’ reissues of the group’s catalogue.) Durango recorded two shadowy EPs as Arsenal, married British pop singer Cath Carrol, and became a lawyer for the likes of Albini and infamous cock-rock sculptor Cynthia Plaster Caster. In the early ’90s Riley had a brief tenure with Chicago’s Bull.

In 1988 Albini founded Rapeman with Rey Washam and David Wm. Sims, formerly of Texas’ Scratch Acid. Two Nuns and a Pack Mule is less abstract and alien than Big Black; its superbly executed power crunch predates grunge irony with in-joke lyrics and tributes to Golden Earring and ZZ Top. After the group’s dissolution, Washam drummed with a succession of acts, Sims formed the Jesus Lizard, and Albini concentrated on his studio. His most recent endeavor, the heavier, more minimalistic Shellac, features ex–Breaking Circus/Rifle Sport drummer Todd Trainer and ex–Volcano Suns bassist/engineer Bob Weston. They record and tour sporadically, on their own terms, crafting meticulously loud albums full of odd time signatures, economical rhythms, and trademark guitar clang.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)