Atomizer
Using The Meatmen’s shameless shock value, The Sex Pistols’ sneer & lack of compromise and the dissonant, hellish abyss of noise explored by both industrial electronic acts like Einstürzende Neubauten & Throbbing Gristle alongside such acts as Sonic Youth & Flipper, Big Black arrived with a cold, robotic and feedback-laden thump with an accompanying screech upon the release of their 1986 debut Atomizer, coming after a stream of EP’s and singles that unleashed their frightening, genuinely disturbing sound upon the post-hardcore musical landscape. It can at times be marred by its own preoccupation with shocking the audience: Its opener “Jordan, Minnesota”, an unsettling and repulsive true story of the titular small town’s child sexual abuse scandal of the early 1980’s, was recorded before we knew everything about the case (such as the fact that almost none of the massive group of people accused were guilty of abuse), and its turgid, distorted sing-along chant at the end of “Suck daddy” is merely hysterical and exploitative, rather than useful for serious commentary. But with these overwrought missteps come fine moments such as the six-minute self-immolation fable “Kerosene” (which frighteningly dismisses it as just ’something to do’), which remains their finest song, and the dead-end Midwest commentary of “Bad Houses”, not to mention the austere post-punk classic “Passing Complexion”. These moments make Atomizer a great first outing from a band that was known for missteps and a lack of construction on the music itself, as well as an album just as unsettling & terrifying as it was almost a quarter-century ago upon its release.
- Release Date: 1986
- Rating:
TRACK PICKS: “Passing Complexion”; “Kerosene”; “Bad Houses”