BIG BLACK

Complete Creative Control: the three C's. A lot of bands strive for 'em and a lot of independent recording artists live by 'em. Big Black is one such band. Steve Albini, Santiago Durango and Dave Riley, the chaps that, along with "Roland the Drum Machine," make up Big Black, would rather be pushing up daisies than not have complete creative control over their work and their lives.

This threesome is about as uncompromising as can be imagined, and sometimes take that quality to extremes. One never knows if they are out there doing what they do for shock value, or if they really do hate everyone and everything. At a recent live show in Boston it seemed, at times, they were conducting a psychological experiment in abusive alienation. Screaming "Fuck You" over and over, halting the show in midstream (a crime just short of coitus interruptus) so they could get more beer, and constantly mumbling about their complete lack of desire to be there. However, having accepted this charade as part of the "Big Black idiom", it was easy to enjoy the get down ass-kicking they really did do. They played a vast selection of "hits" from just about every one of their releases, including several from thier new album, Songs About Fucking, all to a euphoric capacity crowd.

Despite the insane screaming of the crowd, the club's management refused to allow the band back on stage to do an encore. To me that seemed like a pretty harsh treatment since all the band did was smash one of the clubs stage monitors to bits. That seemed almost a fitting way to end their last-ever show in Boston. This was their last show in Boston not because of the property damage mind you, but because the band is breaking up.

Their demise is a topic of conversation often met with mixed feelings. To most it is a catastrophic loss. A few might even go as far as to say it is a selfish, inconsiderate act; an act destined to set alternative rock's excitement level back a few years. One person prior to the same Boston show actually wanted to know..."How can they do this to us? What about us...their fans? How can they just quit?" Although the emotion is heartfelt, that remains a pretty infantile reason to keep a band together. Steve Albini is probably the last person on earth to endure sacrifice to please his "fans".

Some even even think Big Black's break-up is a good idea. This latter group of people are generally divided into two segments. The minority seem "happy to be relieved of the obnoxious assholes Big Black really are." But the second, larger segment, look at Big Black hanging up their hats as a defensive move. They would rather see Big Black retire undefeated so to speak. You know, go out in a fiery ball of flame, burning brightly, instead of fading into oblivion. Some even thought the boys were destined for disaster if they continued. Albini himself said, "It's a good idea to break up before we do something really stupid."

In reality, the end of the trio has come for purely practical reasons. Plain and simple, Santiago Durango is leaving the band to go to law school. Whatever the reason, let us be thankful to have been blessed by such an exciting and expressive band. As the old and overused adage goes, all good things must come to an end.

by Rich Shupe