Urge Overkill

The room was buzzing, the velvet suits were hypnotising, the spliffs were rolling and the riffs were golden – the baby sitters would have been all booked out tonight as Urge Overkill reminded their flock that some old rockers never die they just fade away.

Though a new album is planned, I’m guessing this might be more a fade out tour for UO, who are something of an enigma, that always threatened the mainstream but perhaps got their timing wrong, and I don’t mean the beat, that was definitely on the money. They made their impact in the late 80’s and into the 90’s on the pop rock fringe of the grunge era but fell between the cracks, never rising to the heights of Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins. Somehow their songs may just be too catchy for the alternative rock scene, even a bit of an effort overkill some might say.

Strangely though, for such master tunesmiths, their biggest impact, sparking their comeback from self induced implosion, came through their fatally cool cover of Neil Diamond ‘Girl, you’ll be a woman soon’ for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. They saved this song for near the end of the night and the smooth and ironic vocal tones of lead singer and guitarist Nash Kato make it work on all levels. Eddie “King” Roeser, the other part of the core guitar/vocal duo, worked up a mighty sweat over the night knocking out a stream of sweet guitar harmonies and guitar work dripping with hooks. (Touring with OU was Bonn E on drums and Michael Hodgkiss on Bass)

It was a loyal, expectant crowd at The Corner and I’m pretty sure everyone went home satisfied. Three encores put the seal of approval on the under-rated overkill. I couldn’t help the feeling that this gig was the first time out in a while for a few folk, it’s scary to see a 30-something crowd surfer coming toward you but they weren’t holding back for this little revival.

Rock crooners? Playboy rockers? Maybe not, but hey I’m just making this shit up…this band has a great sense of style all the same. Urge Overkills music has its roots in 70’s rock, it’s dressed in 80’s pop and then some 90’s grunge is cut in like icing sugar into your deal bag. These guys are cool Chicago cats and for those that have never heard them I guess you are all the poorer. I’m glad I finally got to see them live after all these years. All round a great band and a great gig, I give it a 7 out of 10.

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