Bleep

From the opening guitar thunderclap of ‘My Black Ass’, it’s clear that still nothing sounds quite like the blazing roller derby of Shellac’s debut. At Action Park saw Steve Albini come of age after the boneheaded tongue in cheek noise rock of Big Black and Rapeman, whilst remaining insistent on the noise prefix. It’s heavy, sensitive, goofy, arty, noisy, moody and, all told, a defining statement of post-hardcore — if not one of the best debut LPs ever recorded.