Naked Raygun “Over the Overlords” 2021. Wax Trax! Records, limited edition red vinyl. The OG Chicago punks’ first LP release of new material since the early 90’s (their first recording dates back to ’81). We finally got Over the Overlords after pre-ordering it over six months ago (vinyl pressing backups/supply chain/blah blah). It’s high speed, fairly melodic power-pop punk with a general sense of 21st century despair during a time of injustice. “Living in the Good Times” is a perfect example – danceable, catchy and loud! – with lyrics like “Dream of a day when we’re finally gonna fuck the bastards/swingin’ with fists that will never fold…So enough with all the talk about retribution/We really need some evolution.” So too is “Broken Things” which is pretty much about how everything sucks, same with “Black & Grey.”  Over the Overlords also includes some timely political issues like gun control on the grungy “Farewell to Arms” and terrorism on “Suicide Bomb” (but that track also could be about a bad relationship? dunno, it’s weird). So it’s not a feel-good happy record (especially against the backdrop of the death of longtime Raygun bassist Pierre Kezdy in 2020; Kezdy is credited on Over the Overlords but I have no idea how much he recorded for the LP) but it is relevant for 2021 (I do have questions about the track “Amishes” tho).