Atomizer

Product Information

He played everything on the EP himself, except the sax bleating courtesy of pal John Bohnen and the drums courtesy of Roland. 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. Pezzati was replaced by Dave Riley, an audio engineer who worked closely with Parliament/ Funkadelic. Instrumentally, Atomizer is a wailing behemoth of assaultive Roland beats, Steve Albini and Santiago Durango's clanging and whirring guitars, and new member Dave Riley's lumberjack bass.

Don't worry about their longevity, as Philips will pronounce them obsolete when the next phase of the market-squeezing technology bonanza begins. It's also Albini at his most plainspoken and bleak: "Stare at the wall/Stare at each other and wait 'til we die. 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.Vincent (live at the Our Band Could Be Your Life 10th Anniversary Show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on May 22, 2011. 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. One song from the album, "Big Money", was released as a B-side to the " Il Duce" single prior to the release of Atomizer. In 1985, Big Black recorded their first full-length, ‘Atomizer’, as well as finishing the ‘Il Duce’ 7”.

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! That same year Atomizer was compiled onto compact disc along with the Headache EP and the band's "Heartbeat" single under the name, The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape. Hey it's not Zep but if you're against the Big Black grain then maybe you exist in an airtight, brain-free starless environment.But needless to say this is a great album, really an example of the Great Lakes underground sound of the 80s, where you can really feel the failing cities and abandoned industrial dystopia of that time and place.