pigfuck

English

Etymology

Originally coined by American music journalist Robert Christgau in 1983 to derisively describe the raucous sound of Sonic Youth. Later took on a meaning of its own, describing a style not specifically associated with the band.

Noun

pigfuck (uncountable)

1. (music) A genre of punk rock that originated in the 80s American underground rock scene, incorporating more noisy, transgressive, and caustic elements than traditional punk rock and primarily associated with such acts as Big Black, Butthole Surfers, and The Jesus Lizard.
   • 1989 September, Jim Testa, Jersey Beat, number 38, Weehawken, N.J.: Jim Testa, →OCLC, Constant Listener, page 26:

     Finally, there's the folks at Sub Pop, who've cashed in on this new Singlesmania big-time, turning every indie/pigfuck record buyer into a rabid collector by deliberately limiting the pressings of their Singles Of The Month and then finding the hippest bands around to record.

   • 2007, Eric Weisbard, Use Your Illusion I and II (33⅓), New York: Continuum, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 83:

     The camera is facing Slash’s back, so there is no way to see his reaction to the song that he is accompanying, but the crowd—thrown by the initial “cops and niggers,” even though Axl [Rose] builds a reaction into the song; “that’s right,” he sings, as if to say yes, I intended to say that—has caught up by the time he sings “immigrants and faggots,” and giggles appreciatively. It’s the Pussy Galore, Big Black, pigfuck era in post-punk terms. A lot of shit has been said at CB’s; this is just more.

   • 2010 July, Christopher R. Weingarten, Spin, volume 26, number 6, New York, N.Y.: SPIN Media LLC., →ISSN, →OCLC, Reviews [Albums], page 90:

     Monumentally caustic but hypothetically a dance band, Sleigh Bells sculpt infectious double-dutch funk from an unlikely acid bath of distorted drum machines and nasal pigfuck guitars.

   • 2014 July 30, Jason Heller, “Steve Albini's 10 Best Records”, in Pitchfork‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast, archived from the original on 2023-05-06:

     That band [Shellac] hit the ground sprinting with 1994’s At Action Park, a thunderous debut that seemed obsessed with one-upping all the pigfuck and post-rock outfits that had sprung up in Albini’s wake.

   • 2018 December, Luce Cimarusti, edited by Anne Elizabeth Moore, Chicago Reader, volume 47, number 11, Chicago, IL: STM Reader, LLC, →ISSN, →OCLC, Music, page 32:

     In 2016, the group [Bruges] released a five-song demo of sludgy pigfuck noise-rock layered with distorted bass and ear-piercing guitar feedback, but on their brand-new singles “Through a Muted Lens” and “Atop a Precipice,” the group really show what they're made of.

See also

• post-hardcore
• noise rock