A Love Letter to Steve Albini
On the outrageous disappearance of a punk rock god
Dear Steve Albini. You went and died out of nowhere, on 7th May 2024 at the age of 61, and about a million people are stunned and sad.
I can’t encompass your life, only sketch you and curse and weep, but I will permit myself to join the cacophony of voices with these words that are weak on facts and descriptions but full of good wishes, and I hope they will help.
Steve Albini, you utter fucking legend. Your name’s been a byword for cool for a really long time now, and it will remain so as long as some of us are around to tell it. Your impact on our shared world of underground music has been immense.
To kick the bucket at 61 is an outrage, You must be as freaked out and furious as we are at this turn of events. There you were in the studio, finishing up the first Shellac album in ten years, and just about to tour in Europe. You were right in the middle of it all, you were like Boadicea on her chariot. You were in your power.
And now you’ve gone elsewhere with all of that, and everyone’s been left gasping.
I’m not going to catalogue your achievements. Some fellas will do that. I’m here to feel your energy, to listen to your rage and express my own. And to appreciate you, you immense…
