Big Black’s 2nd and final LP is their most famous and popular. I have to suspect that the iconic title and cover art are at least partially responsible for the album’s notoriety, and it’s a certified attention-grabber that’s for sure.
Musically this contains approximately zero surprises however. It’s basically just Atomizer part 2. If anything it’s actually not quite as good imo – some of those grooves on Atomizer were truly savage, and there isn’t anything on SAF quite as good as the best of the first album. But if you enjoy this sound this is certainly a consistent and enjoyable album.
As before, this consists of aggressive, riff-based songs and industrial/electronic drum beats. Everything is distorted and noisy, including guitars, bass, and vocals. Fsr I’ve always felt that when you run bass guitar through distortion, it dulls the deep bass frequencies of it, and for that reason I usually find it to be a bad choice. But I suppose these guys are willing to sacrifice that for the sake of sheer noisiness and aggression.
Also as before the lyrics are intentionally provocative and sure to offend parents all over America (well, the lyrics would offend them if they could understand them), covering sex, violent, and violent sex. (Indeed many of these songs are about fucking, but then again that was true of the previous album as well.) I had to look up what a “Colombian necktie” is, apparently it’s when the Colombian mafia slits your throat and then pulls your tongue out of the opening so that it hangs down your chest like a necktie :ughstrosity: So that gives you a sense of the tone of these lyrics.
Overall I think I expected to like this album more than I actually did, due to the notoriety of the cover, which – let’s be honest – is pretty much a masterpiece. Musically I appreciate these guys influence maybe more than I actually enjoy listening to the music. Certainly I prefer Atomizer if I’m ever gonna listen to Big Black again.
Does Bang want to listen to this? Sure.
The Davis Collective 