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Not much has been heard from Chicago punk rock icons NAKED RAYGUN for a while, but they were jolted back to life again after a few shows and are totally back in the game, playing tours and debuting new material. The core remains singer JEFF PEZZATI and bass player PIERRE KEDZY, and latter era drummer ERIC SPICER and guitarist BILL STEPHENS (funnily enough, PEGBOY is also currently playing shows, the band where original guitarist JOHN HEGARTY split off to years ago). It was a pleasure to receive basically punk rock royalty to the dingy basement of The Middle East, where aging punk rockers broke out their bomber jackets and moshed a bit for old times sake.
When songs as good as “I Don’t Know,” “Treason,” “Backlash Jack” and “Home Of The Brave” are unleashed, the energy in the room is gonna skyrocket and tonight was no exception. Even zombies would move at supersonic speed once they got hit with the riffs and super-fast drum fills of “Backlash Jack,” a punk anthem if there ever was one. Even the new stuff sounded good (sorry, I didn’t manage to write down any title snippets in the writhing pit up front), to the point where someone was wondering if they were playing obscure older songs just to take the piss.
Pezzati led the band from the get go, lurching forward, clutching the mic stand, giving the stare, and plunging the mic into the front row like an archbishop offering communion, to which the flock eagerly congregated. It’s hard not to contribute to the ‘ohh oh o-ohhhhh’ punk choruses that are catchier than swine flu. This was no nostalgia trip…the songs burst alive, and sounded great with Stephens’ slashing Flying V carrying the riffs while Kedzy provided the rock bottom end to his well-weathered bass. Great show, welcome back. Based on the new material, keep your eyes peeled for anything new landing in the Naked Raygun bin at your local record emporium.
SHOT BAKER opened up prior to Raygun, and while they plundered the punk rock/hardcore origins of the Chicago scene to good effect and had plenty of energy, the songwriting just wasn’t there to carry forward anything memorable.
