Intellectuals Are the Shoeshine Boys of the Ruling Elite

Noise-rock was far from just a New York thing. There was a powerful Midwestern contingent, too, and Wisconsin’s Killdozer were early pioneers of the form. The songs on their 1984 debut album are slow and grinding, with primitive, thudding drums from Dan Hobson and screeching, feedback-soaked sheet metal guitar from his brother Bill, while Michael Gerald’s low-slung bass and aggressive vocals glue it all together. Lyrically, they paint a misanthropic and black-humored portrait of rural life, with songs about their home state’s legendary serial killer Ed Gein, perverse sexual aggression (“Pile Driver”), hyperbolic masculinity (“A Man’s Gotta Be A Man”), and a surprisingly solid cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Run Through The Jungle” to bring it all home.