Only releasing EPs up to this point, Big Black already had an incredibly unique form of punk rock. The combination of pulsating drum machines, Steve's buzzsaw-esque sounding guitars, the machine like bass playing, and the incredibly dark lyrical topics, the band was truly one of a kind at this point. Sure, the lyrical part could've been borrowed from Swans, but the almost Ramones-influenced sound made them a band I still have yet to hear a sound-alike for. As for their first full length LP Atomizer, this is where the band shows their most dissonant, frightening, disgusting, and inaccessible side. Songs About Fucking is slightly superior due to this balance of everything Big Black would do, but Atomizer is literally just as good, only not a 5 for the fact that Songs is slightly better. The songs that are here are among the most dissonant Big Black would make, such as "Jordan, Minnesota", "Kerosene", "Bad Houses", "Fists of Love", and "Bazooka Joe". The lyrical topics are perhaps at their most frightening, and the sound seems to mostly be borrowed from Swans more than any other Big Black record. But, at no point will this sound like an imitation of something else, simply one of the most unique and important punk rock records ever.
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