Urge Overkill is an American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band, formed in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, consisting of Nathan Kaatrud, who took the stage name Nash Kato (vocals/guitar), and Eddie "King" Roeser (vocals/guitar/bass guitar). They are widely known for their song "Sister Havana" and their cover of

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

's "

Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" is a song written by American musician Neil Diamond, whose recording of it on Bang Records reached number 10 on the US pop singles chart in 1967. The song enjoyed a second life when it appeared on the 1994 ''Pulp ...

", which was notably used in

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

's ''

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...

''. Their latest album, ''Oui'', was released in 2022.

History

Kato and Roeser met at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1985. They formed Urge Overkill (getting the name from a phrase in the lyrics of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

song " Funkentelechy") in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, United States, in 1986, with drummer Pat Byrne, and released an EP, ''Strange, I...'', on

Ruthless Records Ruthless Records was an American record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California in 1986, where all of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1997. Several artists on the la ...

. The EP was recorded by Kato's friend,

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

. A full-length album, '' Jesus Urge Superstar'', soon followed, again produced by Albini, and with Kriss Bataille taking over the drums. Their next effort, ''

Americruiser ''Americruiser'' is the second album by American alternative rock group Urge Overkill, released in 1990. Critical reception ''Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine ...

'', saw a drastic change in style. Jack "Jaguar" Watt (of the band Baron Lesh) was the new drummer and their sound from then on has been described as a "Stonesy fusion of arena rock and punk". Produced by

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...

, ''Americruiser'' was widely praised, and scored a

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

hit with the lead single, "Ticket to L.A." Watt returned to Baron Lesh and was replaced by Blackie Onassis (real name: John Rowan) on the next album ''

The Supersonic Storybook ''The Supersonic Storybook'' is the third album by American alternative rock group Urge Overkill. It was released on March 15, 1991 on Touch and Go Records, and was produced by Steve Albini, a former roommate of the band. The album was named by Mat ...

'', which was named by

Material Issue Material Issue was an American power pop trio from Chicago, Illinois. The band's trademark is pop songs with themes of love and heartbreak. A number of their song titles used girls' first names. History Material Issue was formed in 1985, led b ...

Jim Ellison James Walter Ellison (April 18, 1964 – June 20, 1996) was the frontman for the band Material Issue. He tirelessly promoted his band, booked tours, and secured a major-label deal in 1990. Ellison — along with bassist Ted Ansani and drumm ...

and was released in 1991. After opening for

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

on the American ''

Nevermind ''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...

'' tour, Urge Overkill returned to the studio to record another EP, '' Stull'', in 1992 which featured the tracks, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" (produced and mixed by Kramer) and "Goodbye to Guyville". Having a strong following by this time, they jumped from their indie label, Touch & Go, to a major label,

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. Despite some criticism for the label switch, Urge Overkill's major-label debut, ''Saturation'', received strong reviews upon release in 1993, and to support the album, they opened for

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

on their ''Vs.'' tour. The single "Sister Havana" finally gave the band a hit record and broad recognition. In 1993, the band contributed the track "Take a Walk" to the AIDS relief benefit album ''

No Alternative ''No Alternative'' is an alternative rock compilation album produced by Paul Heck and Chris Mundy. It was released in 1993 to benefit AIDS relief. The album features original tracks and cover versions from bands who went on to define the alter ...

'' produced by the

Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...

. As the band recorded a follow-up album, cult filmmaker

used the group's

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the

song, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", in his 1994 film ''

''. When the movie became a hit, the song made it to number 59 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Urge Overkill retained their sound for their next album, '' Exit the Dragon'', released in 1995. Kato and Roeser started feuding, resulting in Roeser leaving the band. Roeser went on to perform with Jim Kimball (formerly of

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with s ...

) as L.I.M.E. and with his brother John in the band Electric Airlines. Now a duo consisting of Kato and Onassis, Urge Overkill moved to

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

550 Music 550 Music (originally known as Sony 550 Music) was a unit of Sony Music Entertainment, which operated through Sony Music's Epic Records division while in activity. Launched in 1992, the "550" name was inspired by the address of the Sony building, ...

in early 1997. After a break of several years, Kato released a solo album in 2000 called ''

Debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante, ( ; from french: débutante , "female beginner") or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and, as a new adult, is presented to society at a formal " ...

''. Six of the album's 13 songs were co-written with Onassis. In 2004, Kato and Roeser reformed Urge Overkill without Onassis, recruiting former

Gaza Strippers Gaza Strippers were an American garage punk band from Chicago formed by Rick Sims, who had previously played guitar with The Supersuckers and was the lead singer and lead guitarist of The Didjits. The band released its first single in 1997 on Bam ...

guitarist Mike "Hadji" Hodgkiss to play bass, keyboardist Chris Frantisak, and drummer Nate Arling. The reformed Urge Overkill performed shows at The Troubadour in West Hollywood,

Double Door Double Door, a concert hall and nightclub, was located in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The venue was first opened on June 12, 1994, and was co-owned by Andrew Barrett, Sean Mulroney and Joe Shanahan. On Ju ...

in Chicago, First Avenue in Minneapolis and the

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live-music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in the neighborhood of Bowery in Manhattan. The Bowery Ballroom holds something of a cult status among musicians as well as audiences. ''Rolling Stone'' magazi ...

in New York and continued to tour through Europe, North America, and Australia. On September 19, 2010, on the free form radio program ''Anything Anything with Rich Russo'' on WRXP-FM in New York, the first new Urge Overkill song in 15 years was played. The song was called "Effigy". Russo also announced an Urge Overkill show on October 4, 2010, at Mercury Lounge in New York. Live shows began happening, including being the musical guest at a "

Roast Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelization ...

" on December 1, 2010. The band released '' Rock & Roll Submarine'', their first studio album in 16 years, in May 2011. A subsequent tour followed the release of the album. On October 8, 2011, Urge Overkill opened for

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

at the Red Bull

Riot Fest Riot Fest is an annual three-day punk rock music festival based in Chicago, Illinois, at Douglass Park. It is known for booking reunions, guest performances, and full album performances. Riot Fest remains one of the largest independently owned m ...

at the historic

Congress Theater The Congress Theater is a historic movie palace in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. Fridstein and Company designed it in 1926 for the movie theater operator Lubliner and Trinz. It features ornate exterior and interior design work in a c ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Urge Overkill had continued to perform live occasionally between 2012 and 2018. By 2019, the band had begun working on new material for the follow-up to ''Rock & Roll Submarine''. Their first studio album in 11 years, ''Oui'', was released on January 28, 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Compilation appearances

* ''Hog Butcher For The World'' (Mad Queen Records) (1987) - "Last Train To Heaven"

References

External links

Official website

www.urgeoverkill.com - Latest tour dates/Mood Control
*
Urge Overkill
at ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups disestablished in 1997 Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Touch and Go Records artists Geffen Records artists Ruthless Records (Chicago) artists Alternative rock groups from Chicago Musical groups from Illinois 1986 establishments in Illinois