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.
Jeffrey Neal "Jeff" Pezzati is the lead singer of the Chicago punk band Naked Raygun. From 1983 to 1985, he also played bass for the band Big Black. In 1980 Pezzati was asked to audition for Naked Raygun. Pezzati passed the audition and became the band's longest-running member. The band has been credited by Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters fame for inspiring the then 13 year old Grohl to get into punk music.
Santiago Alonso Durango 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.
Pegboy is an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois with a relatively large cult following. They were founded in 1990 by John Haggerty, along with his brother Joe Haggerty, Larry Damore (vocals/guitar), and Steve Saylors (bass). Both Damore and Saylors had been members of the Chicago-based hardcore band Bhopal Stiffs, whose 1987 demo had been produced by John Haggerty. Pegboy's 1990 debut EP, "Three-Chord Monte", was also the first release by Quarterstick Records, an offshoot of Touch and Go Records. Steve Saylors dropped out in 1992 after job commitments prevented him from touring. Steve Albini, a longtime friend of the band, filled the bass slot on the "Fore" EP. Former Naked Raygun bassist Pierre Kezdy became the permanent bass player in 1994. After the reformation of Naked Raygun, Mike Thompson took over for Kezdy on bass.
The Effigies were an American punk band from Chicago. The band played its first show in 1980 and was active initially for approximately a decade, undergoing multiple personnel changes with frontman John Kezdy the only constant, before disbanding in 1990. The band released 5 albums and several EPs, most on the record label they founded in 1981, Ruthless Records, which was distributed by Enigma. Later albums were on the Fever Records and Roadkill Records labels. They toured the U.S. and Canada and played notable venues, including CBGB, Maxwell's, First Avenue, Mabuhay Gardens, Paycheck's (Detroit), Exit (Chicago) and The Rathskeller, among others. They also received a significant amount of national airplay on college radio at a time when it was the only medium for alternative music.
John Haggerty is an influential Chicago guitarist. Haggerty was a member of Naked Raygun from 1983 to 1989. Upon leaving Naked Raygun, He formed the band Pegboy with brother Joe Haggerty, Steve Saylors, and Larry Damore.
You Weren't There: A History of Chicago Punk, 1977–1984 is a 2007 documentary film about punk subculture in Chicago from 1977 through 1984. The film was written and directed by Joe Losurdo and Christina Tillman, and profiles the punk bars and local bands that gave rise to the city's punk rock scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Losurdo was the one-time bass player for the Chicago-based 1980s hardcore band, Life Sentence, although his group is not profiled in the movie. Reviewer Max Goldberg of the San Francisco Bay Guardian called the film "a thrillingly exhaustive survey of early Chicago punk."
Basement Screams is the debut EP by American punk rock band Naked Raygun, released on Ruthless Records in 1983. Quarterstick Records reissued the EP in 1999, and added the street version of "I Lie" and the 222 S. Morgan St. sessions as bonus material. The 1982 Morgan St. sessions feature the band's original line-up, which would change significantly by the time the band went into the studio to record Basement Screams the following year, and then again with the release of Naked Raygun's first full-length LP.
Throb Throb is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Naked Raygun, released on Homestead Records in 1985. It was the first of the band's releases to feature the musicianship of John Haggerty whose guitar playing distinguished the band's sound during the 1980s. Quarterstick Records reissued the album in 1999, and added an early version of "Libido" as bonus material, which originally appeared on the Flammable Solid 7".
Iain Burgess was an English record producer and audio engineer. He helped define the sound of the Chicago post-punk music scene in the 1980s and early 1990s. Burgess worked with a number of key underground bands including: Big Black, Naked Raygun, The Effigies, Rifle Sport, Toothpaste, Get Smart!, Ministry, Green, Bloodsport, Pegboy, Poster Children, and Bhopal Stiffs.
The Bomb started in 1999, formed by Jeff Pezzati of Naked Raygun. Despite the band's quiet beginnings, Steve Albini (Shellac), Big Black, recorded half of their first LP, Torch Songs, which featured the original line-up of John Maxwell on guitar and Paul Garcia on drums and backing vocals, with Steev Custer taking over bass duties. In 2002, Jeff Dean replaced Maxwell on guitar, and in 2003 Custer and Garcia were replaced by Pete Mittler The Methadones, Naked Raygun), Mike Soucy The Methadones, Jetlag). This has been the definitive line up of the band.
Sensitive Pete is best known as the bass player for The Bollweevils, Naked Raygun, The Methadones, The Bomb, Explode And Make Up, and the Neutron Bombs.
Jeff Dean is a punk rock musician and recording engineer based in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for playing guitar in The Bomb with Jeff Pezzati of Naked Raygun, and Noise By Numbers with Dan Vapid of The Methadones. He currently plays in Deep Tunnel Project.
Jettison is the third studio album by Chicago punk band Naked Raygun, released on Caroline Records in 1988.
All Rise is the second studio album recorded by Chicago punk rock band Naked Raygun in 1985 and released on LP by Homestead Records in 1986. When Quarterstick Records re-released all of Naked Raygun's early albums in the late 90s, two bonus tracks were added to the CD album.
Joe Haggerty is the drummer for Pegboy and is known for his dense, energetic, relentless and varied drumming style. In the mid-1980s he was the drummer for the Chicago punk band Bloodsport. In 1987, three of the members of Bloodsport, including Haggerty, went on to join a re-formed version of the Effigies. When the Effigies folded in 1990, Haggerty became a founding member of Pegboy, along with his brother John Haggerty.
Earwig is the second studio album by the punk rock band Pegboy. It was released in 1994 through Quarterstick Records.
Pierre Kezdy 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 Effigies frontman John Kezdy.
Understand? is the fourth studio album by Chicago post-hardcore band Naked Raygun, released in 1989 through Caroline Records. "Hip Swingin'" is about the United States involving itself in the affairs of South American countries.
Over the Overlords is the sixth studio album by Chicago punk band Naked Raygun. It was released on August 2, 2021, on Wax Trax! Records. It is their first album in 31 years.
