Big Black - Atomizer (1986)

"Cables" by Big Black


Poster Children's album Flower Power gave the impression of a band unsure of the punk/new wave divide they wanted to fall on.  This uncertainty is aurally palpable as the album is divided by the sonic productions of two separate producers.  The producer on the first half of the album was the young, brash and purely punk Steve Albini.

A wunderkind of the Chicago underground scene, Albini would eventually become its very vocal conscious, decrying any band that sacrificed its raw sound for a more friendly sonic palette as they might try to graduate from the Chicago scene to the mainstream.  If you wanted that raw sound, you often went to Albini to produce your album.  He honed his craft and particular aesthetic in producing recordings for his own bands.  His first band was the solo project turned noise-rock trio Big Black.  Big Black's first album was 1986's Atomizer released on Homestead Records.  The EPs Bulldozer and Racer-X are also worth highlighting.

Special Note: If you pay attention to the listed discographies, you'd have noticed that I often include singles, EPs, and/or compilations from other bands (who never last long enough to record a proper album) that featured members who'd go on to be part of the tour stop's band lineup.  In this case, Big Black bass player Dave Riley was a member of the short-lived bands End Result and Savage Beliefs.  Normally, I don't highlight these bands because they're pretty deep cut and only occasionally reveal a unique or worthwhile song (the last one on the tour being "Amen" by Danny King and The Mayfair Set), but Savage Beliefs is notably great.  Reminiscent of Wire's simple punk perfection, Savage Beliefs's songs are all delights and I can't help feel that, with them, there was a huge missed opportunity.  Story is their breakup made Steve Albini cry.  I can imagine.

Here is the discography surrounding Big Black's debut album:

Lungs (1982 EP)
Bang Zoom Issue #3 (1983 compilation songs)
Big Black (1983 live bootleg)
Bulldozer (1983 EP)
The Moral Efficiency of Savage Beliefs (1983 EP by Savage Beliefs)
The Master Tape Vol. 2 (1983 compilation songs by End Result)
Racer-X (1984 EP)
The Middle of America Compilation (1984 compilation songs)
Il Duce (1985 single)
Rema-Rema (1985 single)
Ward (1985 EP by End Result)
Live at No Bar & Grill in Muncie, IN (1985 live bootleg)
Atomizer
Big Money (1986 EP)
The Hammer Party (1986 compilation album)
God's Favorite Dog (1986 compilation songs)
Live on VRPO (1986 live bootleg)
Live at Paard Van Troje, Den Haag, Holland (1986 live bootleg)
Heartbeat (1987 single)
Headache (1987 EP)
Happiness Is Dry Pants (1987 compilation song)
Sound of Impact (1987 live album)
The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape (1987 compilation album)
Hog Butcher for the World (1987 compilation song by End Result)
You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977-1984 (2008 compilation song by End Result)
Big Big Sky (2015 compilation album by Savage Beliefs)

Big Black Live at CBGB's


"Kerosene" by Big Black


"What's Left in the Fridge?" by Savage Beliefs


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Poster Children - Flower Power (1989)

"She Walks" by Poster Children


Park's debut album was produced by Brendan Gamble.  Another who weaved his way through bands and studios (primarily as an engineer), Gamble's first album recordings were with the Urbana indie punk band Poster Children.  Poster Children released their debut album Flower Power in 1989 on the Limited Potential label.

Here is the discography surrounding Poster Children's debut album:

Another Face (1985 single by ¡Ack-Ack!)
Automatic (1986 single by ¡Ack-Ack!)
Better Than God (1986 compilation song by ¡Ack-Ack!)
Toreador Squat (1988 demo)
Flower Power

Poster Children Live at The Gallery in Normal, IL 1988


"Byron's Song" by Poster Children


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Park - Scene 14 (1998)

"1000 Yard Stare" by Park


Baxter packaged the song "These Times" on the compilation album How to Be a Hero.  Of course, the compilation album featured about 15 other bands but most of them more established.  There was one other, sort of, "rookie band" on the compilation though:  Park.  From Springfield rather than Chicago (like the last handful of tour stops), Park plays a hard-edged pop-punk.  They released their debut album Scene 14 in 1998 on Playing Field Records.

Here is the discography surrounding Park's debut album:

Demo (1996 demo)
Blue Screen (1996 EP)
Mood Ring (1997 EP)
Atmosphere Only Gets You so Far (1998 compilation song)
Scene 14
The Sound of Sirens (1998 split EP)
How to Be a Hero (1999 compilation song)
Pocket Bomb (1999 compilation song)
Live at Viele's Planet (1999 live bootleg)
Random and Scattered (1999 EP)

"Racing a Train" by Park


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Baxter - Troy's Bucket (1997)

"Mandatory Option" by Baxter


What's this?  We were about to head to the band bassist Pete Wentz is most famous for being in, but it seems we've detoured.  Instead, the tour's being dragged away by another founding member of Arma Angelus who is also more famous for being in a different band.  And of course, we're not going to be covering that more famous band either.

Instead, we follow Tim McIlrath (who was a member of Arma Angelus for only a short period of time) as he plays with his Chicago post-hardcore band Baxter.  They released their debut album Troy's Bucket in 1997 on Astroyboy Records.

Here is the discography surrounding Baxter's debut album:

Baxter (1996 demo)
Troy's Bucket
More Than Music (1997 compilation song)
Lost Voices... (1997 single)

"The Star-Spangled Banner" by Tim McIlrath (of Baxter)


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Arma Angelus - Where Sleeplessness Is Rest from Nightmares (2001)

"We Are the Pale Horse" by Arma Angelus


This time we'll follow Racetraitor band members Daniel Binaei and Andy Hurley to their next band Arma Angelus.  Bassist Pete Wentz is here, too, but he's not playing bass for this band (he's the lead singer) and we're still not yet to the band he's most famous for being in.  Binaei, Hurley, and Wentz were all members of Arma Angelus from its inception, but only Wentz was a member when the band recorded their only album Where Sleeplessness Is Rest from Nightmares in 2001.

Here is the complete Arma Angelus discography:

The Personal Is Political (2000 demo)
The Grave End of the Shovel (2000 EP)
Chicago Arise from the Ashes (2001 compilation song)
Ascend from the Darkness (2001 compilation song)
Where Sleeplessness Is Rest from Nightmares
Covered in Blood (2002 compilation song)

Arma Angelus's Last Show


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Racetraitor - Burn the Idol of the White Messiah (1998)

"Suffocation" by Racetraitor


As the tour keeps touring, let's keep following Pete Wentz.  We're not quite to the band he was most famous for fronting, and, in fact, our next stop is a band he wasn't in but with which he occasionally played fill-in bass.  Like Extinction, Racetraitor was a straight edge hardcore band from the mid-to-late 90s.  Short-lived, they released their only (short) album Burn the Idol of the White Messiah in 1998.

Here is the discography surrounding Racetraitor's debut album:

Hinckley (1995 single by Hinckley)
Continuing the Tradition Demo 1996 (1996 demo)
The Great Age of Enlightenment? (1998 compilation song)
Burn the Idol of the White Messiah
Make Them Talk (1999 split EP)
By the Time I Get to Pennsylvania (2016 single)
Invisible Battles Against Invisible Fortresses (2017 EP)
Compilation Vol. 1 - A Benefit for Animal Sanctuaries (2017 compilation song)

Racetraitor Live at the Fireside Bowl


Racetraitor Live at the Electric Factory


An Interview with Racetraitor's Andy Hurley


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Extinction - Hypocrisy Breeds Traitors (1999)

"Dying for Tomorrow" by Extinction


The community of Degrassi also attracts a lot of talent.  Most of the time this talent comes to town as visiting bands that play local concerts or do interviews for the school paper, but Degrassi also attracts famous musicians that go undercover and, weirdly, pretend to be locals.  For bassist Pete Wentz, it seems he simply enjoyed the local vibe and hung out downtown for a while.

Before he was famous for being in a nationally popular pop-punk band or hanging around Degrassi high schoolers, Pete Wentz was a figure of the underground Chicago hardcore movement where he, alongside many other young hardcore musicians, formed bands; recorded demos, compilation songs and singles (sometimes, an EP); then disbanded.  It wasn't until 1999 when his band Extinction shook up the formula and managed to release a (short) album Hypocrisy Breeds Traitors.  They then disbanded.

Here is the discography surrounding Extinction's discography:

Everlast (1993 demo by Everlast)
...Drown the Self... (1994 single by Everlast)
The Cold War (1994 compilation song by Everlast)
'94 Demo (1994 demo by Plagued With Rage)
I Won't Forget (1994 single by Plagued with Rage)
Outcast (1996 demo by Birthright)
Outcast / Final Judgement (1996 split single with Birthright)
Birthright (1996 single by Birthright)
Ascension (1997 EP by Birthright)
The First Crush Compilation (1997 compilation song by Yellow Road Priest)
For the Sake of Dedication (1997 compilation song by Plagued With Rage)
What Have You Created... (1997 EP)
The Difference Between Us (1997 compilation song)
All Systems Go! (1997 compilation song)
Out of Darkness (1998 EP by Birthright) 
Glenview Hardcore (1998 compiation song by XFirstborn)
Milemarker / Yellow Road Priest (1998 split single with Yellow Road Priest)
Hypocrisy Breeds Traitors
The Path of Compassion (2002 compilation song by Everlast)
These Words Run in My Veins (2008 compilation album by Birthright)

Extinction Live in Louisville


Extinction Live in Toronto


Pass the Headphones!!