68: Big Black’s Songs About Fucking (1987)

Can music sound like razors? Can grumbly bass and songs about fucking really be this high on the list? Fuck, higher than Nina Simone’s classic? Hell yeah, that’s right. Steve Albini has gone on to become one of the most influential producers in independent music, but in 1987, he was washing blood out of the back of his pickup truck, and without any of that squirrelly cryptic shit so popular among bands of the day. No metaphor, no bullshit, just songs at the speed of light. I had this on vinyl for years, but gave in to get the CD when I learned that Cheap Trick’s “He’s a Whore” was included.

Big Black: “Bad Penny” (mp3)