Big Headache

I was thinking that it was a few years ago that I rekindled my interest in Big Black and had started to pick up some of their records... turns out it was nine years ago. Time doesn't exist anymore.

As a kid I had the Big Black CDs, including The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape which was compilation of a few of the band's records... including the Headache EP. To be honest, when I looked at the names of the four songs on this EP, I didn't recall what a single one of them sounded like. They certainly weren't as memorable as songs like Kerosene or the live version of Cables, that came earlier in the CD tracklist... in fact, the hype sticker on this Headache record warns you that this is "not as good as Atomizer, so don't get your hopes up, cheese". That is true... but still, on its own, this EP is a fun listen.

Of all of the records that I've scooped from Tim's collection, this one is easily the cheapest, and with the "friend's discount" from Jeff, I was able to pick this up for under $10.

I Am The Ugly American

I thought it was just a year or so ago that I had rekindled my relationship with Big Black, but checking the blog for details, it turns out that it has been over three years since I picked up the Atomizer album. Damn. I remember being very excited about buying that album, and I really wanted to pick up more from the Big Black catalog for the collection. Three years have passed with zero progress...until now.

When I was obsessing about Big Black back in 2016 I somehow missed giving the Racer-X EP a spin at the time. I don't know why. I guess that the song titles didn't jump out at me, so I didn't bother with it. When I got the itch this year for some more Big Black, I decided it was time for some Racer-X. I don't know how I couldn't have forgotten these songs because they are absolutely killer. I've had such a good time revisiting this EP that I needed this record in my collection as soon as possible.

I loved the look of the original Homestead pressing, with the exploding car on the front, so that's the one that I stepped up for. I found a copy at a great price on Discogs and I quickly pulled the trigger.

When the package arrived, I quickly ripped open the box to check out the record, and at first I was puzzled. When I first saw the record cover, it wasn't what I recalled buying. I did some research and discovered that the seller sent me the Touch And Go repress from 1992. I was bummed. The record only cost me $14, and I really hate to complain over that small dollar amount, but I reached out to the seller anyway. Thankfully, the seller was very accommodating, and he told me to keep the pressing that I'd received, and he would send out the correct one right away. Two records for the price of one!

It's nice to have both pressings, but damn, this Touch And Go pressing is ugly.

Set Me On Fire...Kerosene

Being stuck in an early punk state of mind, I've not only been finding some treasures that I'd missed with my first pass through the 80's, but I've also been uncovering some long lost gems that I'd largely forgotten about. Nostalgia has me dusting off some old albums and finding that some oddballs still pack a punch years later.

Even though I was a huge metalhead through my teen years, occasionally I'd stumble upon something outside of my metal comfort zone, but would be so "in your face", that I'd have to check it out. Big Black's Songs About Fucking was one of those albums. It seemed designed to offend, so I took a chance and bought a copy. It wasn't like anything I'd ever heard...well, possibly comparable to the Butthole Surfers records that I was spinning at the time...but that energy and angst was real, and it sucked me in. Soon, I'd picked up the two Big Black comp CDs to complete the collection.

As the years went by, Big Black largely got shelved and ignored. I'd pull out a CD every now and then...give it a quick listen...shrug my shoulders, and put it back with no desire to listen to it again for another 5 years.

For some reason this time was different. I was scouring through older punk stuff, and revisiting stuff from those later teenage years, when I stumbled upon those Big Black CD's. I dusted one off, and threw the Atomizer songs on my iPod...figuring I would be "one and done". Much to my surprise, I found myself spinning those songs daily, and my interest in Big Black had been reignited. I was so interested, that I took my cash to eBay to slug it out with a couple of other bidders for an original pressing on Homestead.