Big Black
The Hammer Party

THE REVIEW

Steve Albini's Big Black is not a band for "hits" or "greatest hits". You cannot summarize the work of one of the darkest entities of noise/post-hardcore into merely ten tracks. "The Hammer Party" captures the early days of the trio without omitting a single song, compiling "Lungs," "Bulldozer," and "Racer X" into a single CD.

With Albini, we have two well-prepared former Naked Raygun members, Jeff Bezzati on bass and Santiago Durango on guitar. Together with master Steve, they are part of the most original project in the noise scene, especially distinguished by the use of the drum machine.

The cold, grim sounds supported by Albini's murderous singing are clearly articulated in "Dead Billy" from "Lungs". When you grapple with the funky lines of Pezzati and the neurotic riffs of metalworker Durango, the full expression of the combo is achieved. All of this occurs perfectly in the second EP "Bulldozer" thanks to "Pigeon Kill" and "Jump The Climb." The tracks are square, not lost in solos or feedback games like Ranaldo and Moore, but instead aim to torture the main riff.

Eighteen tracks that encapsulate the period before the masterpiece "Atomizer," released in 1986, the same year as the compilation. In that seminal work, we find Dave Riley on bass, who immediately stands out in peaks like "Kerosene," "Passing Complexion," and "Jordan Minnesota."

In every work, we see the violence grow, which will be clearly manifested in Rapeman, and also an efficient mannerist technique, closer to the other project, Shellac. In short, Big Black is Albini's preparation for his two subsequent projects, but most importantly, they possess the freshness and spontaneity of primitive artistic conception. A static, stationary wall of sound, with the meticulous patterns of the cords observed through the unaltered touch of the drum machine. Some crudeness in the metallurgical symphony of "Lungs," perhaps too "robotic," is stripped away by the more "lively" sound of "Bulldozer," featuring the sprightly "I'm A Mess."

The industrial dance of "Racer X," released in 1984, anticipates the triviality of the single "Il Duce" and the final EP "Headache," which follows "Atomizer." The rumbling bass of "The Ugly American" and "Sleep" is the only worthy rival to the sublime Kim Gordon. An enormous band, like all the ideas and productions of guru Steve Albini.