Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded first as a solo project by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band became a trio with an initial lineup that included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Naked Raygun. In 1985, Pezzati was replaced by Dave Riley, who played on Big Black's two full-length studio albums, Atomizer (1986) and Songs About Fucking (1987).
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.
David Michael Riley was an American musician who was the bassist in the punk rock band Big Black from 1985 until the band's dissolution in 1987. Riley moved to Chicago in 1982 from Detroit, where he had worked as a recording engineer. He played on Big Black's two studio albums, Atomizer (1986) and Songs About Fucking (1987), as well as their Headache EP (1987), several singles, and two live albums. After Big Black, Riley recorded tracks with several other artists before being incapacitated by a stroke in 1993, losing the ability to walk. He became a blogger, and published a book in 2006 titled Blurry and Disconnected: Tales of Sink-or-Swim Nihilism. He died in late 2019 from squamous cell carcinoma.
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.
Racer-X is the third EP by American post-hardcore band Big Black. It was released by Homestead Records in 1985 and reissued by Touch and Go Records in 1992.
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.
Squirrel Bait is the first EP by the American punk rock band Squirrel Bait, released in 1985 through Homestead Records.
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.
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.
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.
Raygun...Naked Raygun is the fifth studio album by Chicago punk rock band Naked Raygun, released in 1990 through Caroline Records. The album was recorded at Chicago Trax and was co-produced by Keith Harbacher and the band. It was the band's first album with their new guitarist Bill Stephens, who had replaced John Haggerty. This was the last album by the band before they broke up in 1992.
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