Rapeman was a short-lived American

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extre ...

band founded in 1987 and disbanded in 1989. It consisted of

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

(formerly of Big Black) on

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, David Wm. Sims (formerly of

Scratch Acid Scratch Acid was an Austin, Texas noise rock group formed in 1982. One of the pioneers of noise rock in the 1980s, the band is best remembered as a stepping stone for its front man David Yow, and bass player David Wm. Sims, both later of The Jesu ...

and simultaneously of

the Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with ...

) on bass and

Rey Washam Rey Washam (born Reynolds Washam, March 14, 1961, in Austin, Texas) is a Grammy nominated drummer who has been performing for more than 35 years. He has collaborated with many bands, the most notable of which include: Scratch Acid, Rapeman, ...

(formerly of Scratch Acid and

Big Boys Big Boys were an American pioneering punk rock band who are credited with having helped to create and introduce skate punk as a new style of music, which became popular in the 1980s. They also were famous for bringing elements of funk into thei ...

) on drums. Their sound was also described by some as post-hardcore. Rapeman were formed as a parallel sister project to

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with ...

, although they outlasted Rapeman by several years.

History

Rapeman was formed in 1987 when drummer Rey Washam and bassist David Wm. Sims relocated to Chicago from Texas after the breakup of their band

. Steve Albini had just ended his group Big Black, and was looking to switch to a musical project with a live drummer, instead of his

Roland TR-606 The Roland TR-606 Drumatix is a drum machine built by the Roland Corporation from 1981 to 1984. It was originally designed to be used with the Roland TB-303, a monophonic analog bass synthesizer, to provide a simple drum and bass accompaniment t ...

drum machine. Rapeman's initial 1988 releases included the mostly live recorded '' Budd'' EP, the "Hated Chinee b/w Marmoset" 7" single, and their sole album, '' Two Nuns and a Pack Mule''. The band recorded in Albini's own home studio, often giving production credit to someone named Fluss, later revealed to be Albini's cat. All were originally released on

Touch and Go Records Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. ...

in the US, Blast First! in the UK and Au Go Go in Australia. Rapeman left Blast First! in 1990 after Albini had an argument with the label over the release of a Big Black record. Touch and Go started distributing in the UK in 1992 and re-released Rapeman's records there. The band's final record before their breakup, the "Inki's Butt Crack" 7" single, was issued in 1989, as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club.

Name controversy

The band's name was controversial. For the 1994 book, ''Rock Names'' by Adam Dolgins, Albini revealed that "''

Rapeman Rapeman was a short-lived American noise rock band founded in 1987 and disbanded in 1989. It consisted of Steve Albini (formerly of Big Black) on guitar and vocals, David Wm. Sims (formerly of Scratch Acid and simultaneously of the Jesus Liza ...

'' is ... the title character in a Japanese

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

that I had come across through a friend of mine. The comic book is just a total mind-bender. There's a whole genre of comics in Japan,

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

stories where women are raped in really graphic detail for whatever reason". Albini and drummer Washam became "sort of obsessed" with the comic, and named their new group after the titular satirical anti-hero. According to Albini, Rapeman's first American tour garnered negative press response and protests at several of their gigs solely from the band's name. In a ''Kreative Kontrol'' podcast in 2014, bass guitarist Sims discussed always having issues with the name, saying it was "the biggest musical regret" of his life. In an April 2020 interview on the ''Conan Neutron's Protonic Reversal'' podcast, Albini expressed regret for the name of the band, saying that he did not feel he had been "held to account for being in a band called Rapeman". He added that "it was a flippant choice", calling it unconscionable and indefensible. He later likened it to getting a bad tattoo. In October 2021 he again addressed the mistakes he felt he'd make on this Twitter account. "A lot of things I said and did from an ignorant position of comfort and privilege are clearly awful and I regret them. It's nobody's obligation to overlook that, and I do feel an obligation to redeem myself...". He added, "I expect no grace, and honestly feel like I and others of my generation have not been held to task enough for words and behavior that ultimately contributed to a coarsening society."

Later projects

Albini later played bass with Flour before going on to form

Shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...

and expanding his work as a recording engineer. Sims reunited with ex-

vocalist

David Yow David Yow (born August 2, 1960) is an American musician and actor born in Las Vegas, Nevada and best known as the vocalist for the noise rock bands Scratch Acid and the Jesus Lizard. Yow's debut solo album, '' Tonight You Look Like a Spider'', w ...

to form

(with Albini recording their albums). Washam went on to drum for former Chrome guitarist

Helios Creed Barry Johnson (born on November 3, 1953), known professionally as Helios Creed, is an American guitarist, singer and bandleader. He first came to prominence in the mid-1970s with the San Francisco band Chrome, who were considered an early infl ...

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Two Nuns and a Pack Mule'' (1988,

/ Blast First!/ Au Go Go) UK Indie No. 4Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980 - 1989'', Cherry Red Books,

Singles and EPs

* '' Budd'' EP (1988, Touch and Go/Blast First!/Au Go Go) UK Indie No. 2 * "Hated Chinee" 7" single (1988, Touch and Go/Blast First!/Au Go Go) * "Inki's Butt Crack" 7" single (1989, Sub Pop Singles Club)

References

{{Authority control American noise rock music groups American post-hardcore musical groups Musical groups from Chicago Obscenity controversies in music Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Touch and Go Records artists American musical trios Blast First artists