Big Metal Birds

Last updated
Big Metal Birds
Studio album by
Released1993
Genre Noise rock, alternative rock, grunge, punk rock
Length37:00
Label Amphetamine Reptile Records [1]
Janitor Joe chronology
Big Metal Birds
(1993)
Lucky
(1994)

Big Metal Birds is the debut album by American noise rock band Janitor Joe. [2] [3] It was released in 1993 on Amphetamine Reptile Records, and was the only album to feature bassist Kristen Pfaff, who would leave the band to join Hole later that year, before her death in 1994.

Contents

Critical reception

Trouser Press praised "the blue-collar manner in which [the band] rakes through grit-mottled riffs, fashioning a burnished, no-frills end product likely to pique the curiosity of those prone to solicit ear perforation." [4] The Washington Post called the songs "short and punchy, less grinding (though no gentler) than typical AmRep fare," writing that "though not quite sprightly, songs like 'Slur' and the neo-rockabilly 'Goal Oriented' do have a spring in their grunge." [5] Option called the album "classic Amphetamine Reptile ... full of hair-raising guitar grunts, guttural vocals, tree trunk-pounded drums — all slathered with a thick coating of grimy production ethos the color of Guinness Stout." [6]

Track listing

All music is composed by Janitor Joe.

No.TitleLength
1."Early Retirement"3:13
2."Voucher"2:02
3."Boyfriend"2:49
4."Limited Edition"2:19
5."One Eye"3:47
6."Big Metal Birds"3:13
7."Boys In Blue"3:43
8."Slur"2:28
9."Steel Plate"3:05
10."Goal Oriented"3:21
11."Sunshine"2:36
12."Head"2:04
13."African Necklace"3:02
Total length:37:00

Personnel

Related Research Articles

Helmet (band) American alternative metal band

Helmet is an American alternative metal band from New York City formed in 1989 by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton. Helmet has had numerous lineup changes with Hamilton as the only constant member. Since 2010, the band has consisted of Hamilton, drummer Kyle Stevenson, guitarist Dan Beeman and bassist Dave Case.

Lubricated Goat are an Australian noise rock band which originally formed in 1986 by multi-instrumentalist Stu Spasm. They achieved brief notoriety in November 1988 for appearing nude on the ABC TV program Blah Blah Blah, wearing only their instruments and shoes. Mainly influenced by the Stooges and the Birthday Party, they are credited for playing a grimy, confrontational style of rock, which preceded grunge. They have issued five studio albums, Plays the Devil's Music (1987), Paddock of Love (1988), Psychedelicatessen (1990), Forces You Don't Understand (1994) and The Great Old Ones (2003).

Unsane (band) American band

Unsane is an American noise rock trio that was formed in New York City in 1988. Its music touches on elements of hardcore punk and metal. The writer Patrick Kennedy wrote, "While developing the blueprint for noise-metal bands to follow, Unsane cut a remarkable swath through underground music, inspiring a devoted, cult-like following around the world."

Kristen Pfaff American musician

Kristen Marie Pfaff was an American musician, best known as the bassist for alternative rock band Hole from 1993 to 1994. Prior to Hole, Pfaff was the bassist and backing vocalist for Minneapolis-based band Janitor Joe. Pfaff returned to Janitor Joe for a short tour in the weeks before her death in June 1994 of a heroin overdose.

<i>Honky</i> (album) 1997 studio album by Melvins

Honky is the ninth studio album by American rock band Melvins, released in 1997 through Amphetamine Reptile Records. It is widely considered to be the band's most experimental album. Their first studio album after being dropped from Atlantic, it contains a mixture of traditional Melvins-sounding rock, experiments with drones and soundscapes, and some rather uncharacteristic electronic pieces. A video was made for "Mombius Hibachi". The final track, "In the Freaktose the Bugs are Dying", concludes with more than 25 minutes of silence.

<i>Ride the Tiger</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Yo La Tengo

Ride the Tiger is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Yo La Tengo. It was released in 1986 by record label Coyote.

<i>Menace to Sobriety</i> (Ugly Kid Joe album) 1995 studio album by Ugly Kid Joe

Menace to Sobriety is the second album by Ugly Kid Joe. It was released in 1995 through Mercury Records. The album title is an allusion to the movie Menace II Society. It peaked at No. 25 on the UK Albums Chart. "Milkman's Son" and "Tomorrow's World" were released as singles. Music videos were released for "Tomorrow's World", "Milkman's Son", and "Cloudy Skies".

Supernova (American band) American pop punk band

Supernova is an American punk rock band formed in Costa Mesa, California in 1989. The band has released three full-length albums, numerous singles and EPs and were part of the original 1995 Vans Warped Tour line-up. They are perhaps best known by wider audiences for their song "Chewbacca", which was featured on the soundtrack to Kevin Smith's 1994 independent film Clerks. They are also known for the song "Up & Down", which was performed in 2007 on the Nick Jr. children's show Yo Gabba Gabba!

Miss World (song) 1994 single by Hole

"Miss World" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, written by frontwoman Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson. The song was released as the band's fifth single and the first from their second studio album, Live Through This, in March 1994.

Janitor Joe was an American noise rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, in 1992. The band's founding members were vocalist and guitarist Joachim Breuer, former member of the Minneapolis-based rock band Bastards, bassist and vocalist Kristen Pfaff and drummer Matt Entsminger. Pfaff was replaced by Wayne Davis following her departure in 1993 to join Hole.

Tar was an American post-hardcore band, formed in 1988 in Chicago, Illinois. Throughout their career they released four studio albums, two extended plays, and a number of singles before breaking up in 1995. They were known for their dry sense of humor.

<i>Supernova</i> (Today Is the Day album) 1993 studio album by Today Is the Day

Supernova is the debut studio album by American band Today Is the Day, released on April 1993 by Amphetamine Reptile Records. In 2008, a remastered version of the album, including tracks from the band's "I Bent Scared" 7" single, was released via Steve Austin's self run SuperNova Records. A music video was produced for the track "6 Dementia Satyr".

<i>Willpower</i> (Today Is the Day album) 1994 studio album by Today Is the Day

Willpower is the second studio album by the American band Today Is the Day, released on September 1994 by Amphetamine Reptile Records. The album was recorded just a few months after Steve Austin's father, whom he had not seen for months at the time, died in a violent car crash. A remastered edition of the album was issued in 2007 through the then-newly formed SuperNova Records, which included the track "Execution Style", a rare extra from the Willpower sessions that remained previously unreleased up to that point.

<i>Today Is the Day</i> (Today Is the Day album) 1996 studio album by Today Is the Day

Today Is the Day is the third studio album by American noise rock band Today Is the Day. It was released on March 26, 1996 by Amphetamine Reptile Records. It was the band's only album to feature keyboardist Scott Wexton.

<i>Cold Hands</i> 1990 studio album by Boss Hog

Cold Hands is a studio album by the punk blues band Boss Hog. It was released in 1990 through Amphetamine Reptile Records.

<i>Trim, 9th Ward High Roller</i> 1993 EP by Surgery

Trim, 9th Ward High Roller is an EP by Surgery, released on June 30, 1993 through Amphetamine Reptile Records. Featuring improved songwriting and tighter musicianship, the band expanded upon their mix of blues and southern rock with noise rock while developing a more straightforward sound.

<i>Ethereal Killer</i> 1993 studio album by Hammerhead

Ethereal Killer is the debut album of Hammerhead, released in 1993 through Amphetamine Reptile Records.

<i>Into the Vortex</i> 1994 studio album by Hammerhead

Into the Vortex is the second album by Hammerhead. It was released in 1994 through Amphetamine Reptile Records.

<i>Duh, the Big City</i> 1996 studio album by Hammerhead

Duh, the Big City is the third album by Hammerhead. It was released in 1996 through Amphetamine Reptile Records.

Lowercase was a band from Palm Desert, California, led by Imaad Wasif on vocals and guitar and Brian Girgus on drums. The band put out 2 full-length albums on the Minneapolis label Amphetamine Reptile before recording their last LP for Vern Rumsey of Unwound's label, Punk In My Vitamins. Tours with Sebadoh, Karp, Unwound, Hovercraft, Caustic Resin, The Lies, Faith No More, and Chokebore helped gain them a national as well as international following.

References

  1. "Amphetamine Reptile Records". www.amphetaminereptile.com.
  2. "Janitor Joe | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  3. "A Promise to Kristen -". January 15, 2008.
  4. "Janitor Joe". Trouser Press. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  5. Jenkins, Mark (September 24, 1993). "'HEAD EXPLODES, GROWS ON YOU" via www.washingtonpost.com.
  6. "Reviews". Option. 48–53: 111. 1993.