Spoiled Milk
Banned
Actually not quite, but I couldn't wait till the 10th of next month to make this thread.
Songs About Fucking is the second and last full length album legendary noise rock band Big Black ever produced.
Big Black was the first band Steve Albini started. After 6 productive years, Steve himself went on to form two more bands (Rapeman and Shellac) while simultaneously nurturing a hugely successful recording career, mastering classic albums like Nirvana's In Utero, PJ Harvey's Rid of Me, and Pixies' Surfer Rosa. But while those albums loom large in the rock pantheon, Big Black is his most interesting and significant contribution to rock history, both for its abrasive, thrashing, lasting musical quality and also for the way it conducted itself as a band.
Big Black wrote music primarily satirizing drug use, sexism, racism, fascism, murder, etc., and sometimes this alienated listeners who accused Albini of bigotry or shallow shock artistry. Despite this criticism, they never tempered their music or their ideals. They also never signed a single contract, paid for all of their recordings by themselves, and even booked their own tours. They preferred to play in smaller venues where they could interact with the crowd and avoided deals with major labels even though they received many offers. The band broke up at the height of their career because one of the members decided to go to law school. It didn't matter though - Big Black was "never about making money".
Songs about Fucking is an auditory clash of jarring dissonance and melody. Songs lurch with angular chords at frenetic pace, pairing perfectly with Albini's disaffected shouting and dark subject matter. Albini himself created his own guitar out of aluminum, which contributes a distinct sound not unlike tearing sheet metal apart. But despite the grating chords, Big Black had an incredible ear for melody and juxtaposed the two beautifully. Songs About Fucking listens less like a punk rock assault and more like a confident statement, equal parts derisive and restrained. For a band that writes lyrics about rape, I've always found Big Black remarkably tasteful.
Selected Listening
Bad Penny
Fish Fry
Tiny, King of Jews
He's a Whore, which is a hilarious satire (I think) of 80s glam narcissism.
Bonus: Here's a video from when St. Vincent did an entire Big Black tribute concert.