naked raygun Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Naked Raygun “Over the Overlords”

sfilzen — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 20:26:19 +0000

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).

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Naked Raygun “All Rise”

sfilzen — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 18:35:01 +0000

Naked Raygun “All Rise” 1986. I’m spinning Naked Raygun’s second LP in honor of NR’s bassist Pierre Kezdy who died today, October 9th, at age 58. All Rise was Kezdy’s first Naked Raygun album after joining the band in ‘85. The Chicago-area noise punks had a massive influence on the punk/noise rock scene, including Steve Albini (who is credited with “design” on this album’s production) and Dave Grohl who saw Naked Raygun perform in the Midwest when he was about 13 years old while visiting relatives (according to the obit article in this morning’s Chicago Sun Times). Naked Raygun never had the widespread commercial success of Grohl, of course, and Kezdy had kept his day-job as a plumber. Singer Jeff Pezzati wrote almost all the songs on All Rise but Kezdy has co-writing credits on one track, “Backlash Jack” (one of my favorites on the LP) and Kezdy would contribute more songs on later records, including the band’s most well-known single (I say that in the context that most people have not heard of Naked Raygun, of course) “Vanilla Blue” (1987). My other top tracks from All Rise include “Knock Me Down,” “Peacemaker” and “New Dreams.”

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Naked Raygun “Basement Screams”

sfilzen — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 20:10:09 +0000

Naked Raygun “Basement Screams” 1983, 7″ bootleg rerelease, label unknown. Writing about Big Black yesterday got me thinking about Naked Raygun (Naked Raygun’s guitarist Santiago Durango and vocalist Jeff Pezzati both joined Steve Albini in Big Black, recording concurrently with both bands in the mid-80′s). Basement Screams was Naked Raygun’s first release, eight minutes of blistering and sophisticated post-punk. Not all of the six tracks evolve the punk genre straight out of knucklehead swagger. “I Lie” opens with the lyrics “I lie right to your face/Not because i want to, or have to/Cause you make me/Lie to your face/I hate your guts, you stupid schnut!” (or possibly he is shouting “slut” – it’s hard to tell) and tracks like “Potential Rapist” and “Bombshelter” address the fear and violent reality of American life like many other punk bands (“Bombshelter’s” lyrics simply consist of the repetitive shouting of the word “bombshelter”). But musically Naked Raygun blends complicated rhythms (“Mofo” takes a Bo Diddley beat into a militaristic hyperdrive), saxophone (on “Swingo”) and melodic basslines making the label “punk” or even “post-punk” relevant more for Naked Raygun’s attitude and delivery than the simple 3-chord, one-two-fuckyou that characterized most 80′s hardcore releases.

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Naked Raygun “Vanilla Blue”

sfilzen — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 14:45:08 +0000

Naked Raygun “Vanilla Blue” 1987. 45 rpm on white/light blue marbled vinyl. Sandpounder Records. Side A (Pounder Side) – “Vanilla Blue.” Side B (Receiver Side) – “Slim.”

Post-punk Chicago-based Naked Raygun released this single on their own label, and it would be the label’s only release. “Vanilla Blue” is melodic and heavy, anger seething out of its pores. “Slim” is AMAZING – sampling dialogue, hoots and hollers from actor Slim Pickens over a punk honky-tonk beat. Take 3:02 minutes out of your day for this one.

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