Arsenal was an American indie rock band, formed by the former

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded first as a solo project by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band became a trio with an initial lineup that included guitarist Santiago Dur ...

guitarist

Santiago Durango Santiago Alonso Durango (born 1957) is a Colombian–American attorney and retired musician. He is best known for his work with the 1980s punk rock groups Naked Raygun and Big Black. Life and career Durango is the son of a Colombian doctor. Hi ...

, after Big Black broke up. Durango was in law school at the time. Arsenal featured similar characteristics to Big Black (

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

, noisy guitar etc.) but a much less abrasive sound, mainly due to the addition of a melodic keyboard sound on certain songs. For the first record, Santiago asked bassist Malachi Ritscher to play for him, resulting in the self-produced, four-song EP, ''Manipulator'', 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. To ...

in 1988.Tgrec.com
/ref> At this time they also appeared on

Blast First Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticism, Vorticist journal ''BLAST (magazine), Blast'', publi ...

's ''Nothing Short of Total War''

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, with the song "Little Hitlers". – Then, in 1990, with bassist

Pierre Kezdy Pierre Kezdy (January 4, 1962 – October 9, 2020) was an American bass player, known for playing with various Chicago punk bands, including Naked Raygun, Pegboy, Strike Under, Arsenal, and Trial By Fire. He was also the younger brother of ...

(

Naked Raygun Naked Raygun is an American punk rock band that formed in Chicago in 1980. The band was active from 1980 to 1992, along with reunion shows in 1997, and since 2006. Naked Raygun have cited various bands as influences, including Buzzcocks, Wire, ...

), Arsenal released a second EP, a 12 inch 45 rpm vinyl disc, titled ''Factory Smog Is a Sign of Progress'', also on Touch and Go Records.Factory Smog Is a Sign of Progress at Tgrec.com
/ref>

Discography

EPs

* ''Manipulator'' (

) (1988) * ''Factory Smog Is a Sign of Progress'' (Touch and Go Records) (1990)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arsenal Musical groups from Chicago Touch and Go Records artists American noise rock music groups Blast First artists