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Rating: When one thinks of 1980s Chicago, the first name that comes to mind is Steve Albini, leader of Big Black and Rapeman, two essential formations of the American underground rock scene of that pivotal decade.
But Illinois' capital already boasted several other musical realities, paving the way to becoming, in the 90s, one of the world capitals of rock, with one of the most diverse scenes ever: industrial (Ministry, NIN), slo-core (Codeine), indie-rock (Smashing Pumpkins), noise-rock (Jesus Lizard), math-rock (Shellac), post-rock (Tortoise) are the key genres of the end of the millennium, and Chicago could boast at least one prominent name for each of them. Another strand, perhaps minor, perhaps just forgotten, is the one opened by the 'Naked Raygun' of singer Jeff Pezzati and guitarist John Haggerty.
This is a simple, catchy, and driving punk-rock; seemingly repetitive, but actually very eclectic. Between west-coast melodic hardcore à la Bad Religion and the emo-core of Husker Du’s offspring, Naked Raygun represented, in a sense, a "third way" towards music as thunderous as it is easily assimilable.
“Jettison” was their third, irresistible LP, dated 1988. Raygun’s music, despite having a distinctly American mood, treasures the lessons of the English punk and new wave masters of ten years earlier. The tempestuous “When The Walls Come Down” and the devastating cover of Stiff Little Fingers’ “Suspect Device” (impossible to listen to while seated!) reveal a clear connection to the so-called “punk77”.
On the other hand, it's not difficult to notice, in the robotic singing of “Walks In Cold”, in the neurotic constructs of “Live Wire” (a magma of dissonances spread over a hobbling drum; an anguished verse that vents in a sumptuous refrain), in the tormented epic of “Blight”, the influence of the British new wave. But the spectrum of styles reviewed (and skillfully assimilated and reworked originally) by Raygun is even broader: there’s also room for the shrill guitar, frantic singing, and frenzied rhythm of the title-track (the most Albini-like number of the parade), the pompous oscillations à la NY Dolls in “Ghetto Mechanic” and even the powerful metal progression of “Coldbringer”.
The universe of Naked Raygun is torn between the two extremes of a gritty power-pop (“The Mule”, with that melody line of guitar linking back to the seminal “Strange Notes” of the irreplaceable Germs) and cryptic noise-rock (“Hammerhead”, with that dissonant attack, hysterical drums, and muted singing, worthy of the best Sonic Youth).
If the concluding “Vanilla Blue” constitutes a sort of compendium of the Raygun proposal, the two masterpieces of the album remain the opener “Soldiers Requiem” and “Free Nation”, two anthems with a loaded and enthusiastic tone, two high songs of hope, two aspirations to freedom, two moving, sincere, and graceful examples of “rock songs”, in its purest, most honest, and genuine form: the 4 chords, the tense verse, the heartfelt refrain, supported by the necessary backing choirs and the drum rolls…
The adventure of Naked Raygun would end (after a couple more records) in 1991; their legacy would be picked up by 'Pegboy', also led by Haggerty, committed, in an era of deconstructions, manipulations, and contaminations, to continuing, without any anachronism and with undeniable freshness, in that aesthetic of essentiality, spontaneity, and immediacy, which allowed Naked Raygun to become part of the "classics".
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
07 Coldbringer (02:33)
And so it finally comes to this
Everybody looks just like shit
The situation's just a little remiss
Where will the knight be when the light glows low
Electric slows and the sun can't make things grow?
What was he supposed to do?
After all he was the man in blue not you
Bringin' home the goods and takin' his time
James Gordon saw the sun refused to shine
Will he see his Sarah? he yearned
Her apartment is the one that's burned - he runs
The boys gather in the thick of the dump
Weapons ready and adrenalin begins to pump
Time to turn the boys into men
The sons of Batman will ride again tonight
The throng moves man of steel falls
James Gordon finds her in his arms - she bawls
The Gotham jail has gone up for grabs
In Gotham City he's not out of a job tonight
Onto the scene rides the man of old
Nerves of steel bat blood of cold
Bats at the helm again (2x) and he runs
Of course he ends up saving the day
Robin's back and as a girl she's not so gay
Bats at the helm again (2x) and he's
Now he's back
But where's Kent?
Now he's back and it's right
And so it finally comes to this
As we swan dive into the abyss
Is there somethin' is there something we missed
09 Free Nation (03:20)
We're breeding some real invalids and cons
Most of us don't have a clue of what's going on
I can't belive we live with this mutation
We must be just a step out of damnation
Cremation, free nation
Haven't I read all of this in a book?
It seems the Romans were hung on the same hook
We might lose a little bit in the translation
But I think it's basically the same equation
Creation, of a free nation
I look at the crowd and see something in their faces
It makes me glad that I'm not in their places
I'm single minded and in for the duration
With my progress serving as my explanation
Predation, in a free nation
Take and talk and time for all of it
There are no leaders who see the point of it
Independance is always started by education
But only will be truly gained by declaration
Elation, for a free nation
Free nation, free nation
12 Suspect Device (02:44)
Inflammable material is planted in my head
It's a suspect device that's left 2000 dead
Their solutions are your problems
They put up the wall
On each side time and prime us
And make sure we got fuck all
They play their games of power
They mark and cut the pack
They deal us to the bottom
But do they put back?
Don't believe them
Don't believe them
Don't be bitten twice
You gotta suss, suss, suss, suss, suss out
Suss suspect device
They take away our freedom
In the name of liberty
Why don't they all just clear off
Why don't they let us be
They make us feel indebted
For saving us from hell
And then they put us through it
It's the bastards fell
Don't believe them
Don't believe them
Question everything you're told
Just take a look around you
At the bitterness and spite
Why can't we take over and try to put it right
We're a suspect device if we do what we are told
But a suspect device can score an own goal
I'm a suspect device the army can't defuse
You're a suspect device they know they can't refuse
We're gonna blow up in their face
13 Vanilla Blue (03:10)
Icicles on my spine
my boots feel empty
I see the world around me
through the corners of my eyes
White girls lied to me
no great surprise at all
when I think of what you mean to me
I shake and then I fall
Lost control again today (repeats)
You're not one of them
you're pure
you're something special
yeah that's for sure
You are my electric
got a black jag for you
that's why I call you
my sweet vanilla blue
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