The Bomb started in 1999, formed by

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 ...

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 ...

. Despite the band's quiet beginnings,

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 ...

(

Shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of Nake ...

, recorded half of their first LP, ''Torch Songs'', which featured the original line-up of John Maxwell (The Mangos) on guitar and Paul Garcia on drums and backing vocals (Death and Memphis), with Steev Custer (Death and Memphis) taking over bass duties. In 2002, Jeff Dean (

Noise By Numbers Noise By Numbers is an American pop punk band featuring Dan Schafer (Screeching Weasel, the Queers, the Methadones, Sludgeworth), Jeff Dean ( The Bomb, All Eyes West, Four Star Alarm, The Story So Far, Dead Ending), Rick Uncapher (Textbook, Dan ...

, Explode and Make Up, All Eyes West & Dead Ending) replaced Maxwell on guitar, and in 2003 Custer and Garcia were replaced by Pete Mittler

The Methadones The Methadones were a band formed in 1993 by guitarist/vocalist Dan Vapid. The Methadones initially lasted only a few shows before Vapid put them to the side to focus on his main band Screeching Weasel. By 1999 Dan was no longer a member of Scree ...

Mike Soucy Mike Soucy (born September 8, 1971) was born in Boston, MA and grew up in Woonsocket, RI. Soucy joined The Methadones in 2002 and played with them until their official hiatus in 2011. He is currently the drummer for Airstream Futures and formerl ...

, Jetlag). This has been the definitive line up of the band. Not to be confused with the earlier San Francisco band, Bomb (1986-1993).

Press Notoriety

*"The Bomb, which is enough like Naked Raygun to appeal to old-school fans, but unique enough to please Punk/Post Punk fans who wouldn't know a Naked Raygun from a Jesus Lizard" - City Beat Cincinnati *"Chicago has never produced a better rock band than Naked Raygun, and it's too bad they're not around anymore to remind us of why. But Raygun singer Jeff Pezzati still occasionally struts his stuff with this quartet, and "Indecision" upholds the legacy: brisk melodies, anthem-ready choruses, brutish guitars and drums, all honed to a fine point by the production of ex-Jawbox maestro J. Robbins. " - Our picks for the best local indie releases of 2005 -

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

- Chicago Tribune *"Not that anyone is going to confuse The Bomb's sonic, three- minute epics with the current crop of pop-tart fluff like Britney and Christina. Songs like "I Need You" and "Can Jeannie Come Out Tonight?" are steeped in influences that emulate the muscular melodies of The Jam ("Just their first two albums," eff Pezatticlarifies) and Cheap Trick with a Buzzcocks aesthetic thrown in for good measure. Occasionally they do subliminally ape their predecessors, but they always manage to transcend the sum of their record collections, in large part because of Pezatti's now patented "whoa ho" refrains and foreboding delivery." (Curt Baran,

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

)

Discography

EPs

* ''...Arming'' (Modern) (1999) * ''The Axis Of Awesome'' (No Idea) (2015)

Albums

* ''Torch Songs'' (Jettison) (2000) * ''Indecision'' (Thick) (2005) * ''Speed Is Everything'' (No Idea) (2009) * ''The Challenger'' (No Idea) (2011)

Compilation appearances

* ''Magnetic Curses: A Chicago Punk Rock Compilation'' (Thick) (2000) - "Can Jeannie Come Out Tonight" * ''AMP Sampler Volume 17'' (Amp Magazine) (2005) - "Indecision" * ''Ox-Compilation #62-Ach, Hatte Ich Nur Auf Mutten Gehort...'' (Ox Fanzine) (2005) - "Indecision" * ''Mean It Man'' (Thick) (2005) - "Indecision", "Failures" * ''Hair: Chicago Punk Cuts'' (Thick) (2006) - "Spaceman" * ''No Idea Presents: Fest 8'' (No Idea) (2009) - "Spaceman" * ''BYAF VII: The Comp (Part Two)'' (Make-That-A-Take) (2013) - "The Kids"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bomb, The Musical groups from Chicago Punk rock groups from Illinois