Rapeman

A supergroup of sorts, Rapeman came together as a unit in 1988 in Chicago, IL, consisting of Steve Albini (ex-Big Black) on guitar, David William Sims (ex-Scratch Acid) on bass, and Rey Washam (ex-Scratch Acid, Big Boys) on drums. The name for the band came from a Japanese comic book that Washam and Albini were equally obsessed with because of the bizarre, adult nature of its subject matter; for whatever reason, the title character spent most of his time raping women. Puzzled by the fact that such a comic book was an accepted part of popular culture in Japan, Albini, already swathed in controversy from his days as frontman for Big Black, decided it would be a clever name for his new project. This decision was not without consequences though; on their first American tour, there were picket lines at several shows that were filled with womenwho found the group's name to be offensive, sometimes accompanied by news crews covering the sensation that the group occasionally generated. In England, a show at a university was nearly cancelled because of a proposed boycott by students and members of the community. The ensuing publicity, however, drove hundreds to the rented hall and the show sold out. The band itself only lasted for two years, producing a limited-edition 7", the Budd EP (the title track here comes from a man named R. Budd Dwyer, former treasurer for the state of Pennsylvania who shot himself during a televised press conference), and the Two Nuns and a Pack Mule album. The group's songs were peppered with inside jokes (a track entitled "Kim Gordon's Panties" was named as such because the band thought the song sounded like a ripoff of a piece written by Kim Gordon's band, Sonic Youth, and Albini had seen Gordon throw her panties into the audience at several shows), tongue-in-cheek attacks on those Albini could easily infuriate (take the line "Why don't you stuff it, man? You plant-eating pussy" from the song "Steak and Black Onions"), and featured Albini's signature snarl and searing, trebly guitar attack. For personal reasons, the band broke up in 1990. Albini went on to form Shellac, Sims became a member of the Jesus Lizard with some of his former cohorts from Scratch Acid, and Washam later joined Ministry. ~ Josh Eppert, Rovi...

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