''Over the Overlords'' is the sixth studio album by Chicago punk band

Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered by many to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk rock and credited with creating “the Chi ...

. It was released on August 2, 2021, on

Wax Trax! Records Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that y ...

. It is their first album in 31 years. The album features an instrumental that appears in the first and last tracks, and occasionally as interludes throughout the album, mostly with a repeating drum line.

Background

The album is notable for being the last release to feature bassist Pierre Kezdy, due to his death in October 2020. Although the album was released after Pierre's death, and also featured bassist Fritz Doreza, Pierre had recorded for the album prior to his death. The album is also notable for being the first Naked Raygun album since 1990's ''Raygun...Naked Raygun'', and the first release of new material since the series of singles the band released in 2009, 2010, and 2011. In 2020, ProRawk Records released a compilation album titled ''...On the Rawks'', which featured the song "Broken Things". This would be the first release of a song from the album, although "Broken Things" would not be released as a single until November 19, 2021, along with a lyric video. The album's first official single was "Living in the Good Times", which premiered as a music video on April 9, 2021. The music video features many fan-submitted clips of people singing the song in their homes, and contains a guest appearance from Daryl Wilson of The Bollweevils. It was filmed in and on the roof of Cobra Lounge in Chicago. The song "Ode to Sean McKeough" is a tribute to former Cobra Lounge/All Rise Brewing owner and Riot Fest co-founder Sean McKeough, who passed away from a stroke in 2016.

Track listing

Note: The CD and vinyl releases do not feature "Intro", "Vijay's Big Organ", "Eric's Across the Street", or "Outro Outre" on the printed track listing. Note: The live version of "Knock Me Down" is specified as "live in Chicago 2015" on physical releases.

Personnel

Naked Raygun *

Jeff Pezzati Jeffrey Neal "Jeff" Pezzati (born February 6, 1960) is the lead singer of the Chicago punk band Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered ...

– vocals * Eric Spicer – drums * Pierre Kezdy – bass * Bill Stephens – guitar * Fritz Doreza – bass Additional musicians and production * Steven Gills – recording, engineering, mixing, production, additional keys * Naked Raygun – production * Mike Chicowicz – trumpet * Henry Salgado – trombone * Paul Mertens – tenor saxophone * Vijay Tellis-Nayak – additional keys * Morgan Spencer – backing vocals on "Suicide Bomb" * Ted Jenson – mastering Album art and design * Mark Skillicorn – design * Brian Trost – design * Miguel Echemendia – cover illustration

References

{{Naked Raygun 2021 albums Naked Raygun albums Wax Trax! Records albums