Urge Overkill spent 1996 in seclusion as they attempted to regroup. No charges were pressed and the incident was kept quiet, but the album was already pronounced dead in the water by the media and DGC. Toward the end of the year, Blackie Onassis was picked up for heroin possession. A few weeks later, the remaining concerts were canceled altogether and never rescheduled. The group began a tour that fall but it quickly turned disastrous, with opening act Guided by Voices being kicked off amidst much controversy just a few weeks in. The lead single from the album, "The Break," was rather uncommercial, and received little airplay. Scheduled for early summer of 1995, the album didn't appear until the fall, when it was greeted with mixed reviews. On the strength of the movie's success, the song became a hit, seemingly setting the stage for a breakthrough success with 1995's Exit the Dragon. Furthermore, the band began to alienate certain members of the alternative rock community with its constant preening, and a few anti-Urge campaigns were launched in the American indie rock underground.Īs the band was preparing to record its follow-up to Saturation, Quentin Tarantino picked the group's cover of "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" for the soundtrack to his unexpected hit Pulp Fiction. Produced by the Butcher Brothers (Cypress Hill), the album sounded like a sure-fire alternative crossover hit, but only "Sister Havana" earned much airplay. Still, the band's 1993 major-label debut, Saturation, was greeted with strong reviews upon its summer release. Their jump to the majors angered the whole label, particularly their former producer Albini, who publicly attacked the band in several interviews. Urge Overkill signed to DGC Records in 1992, although they were still contracted to record another album for Touch & Go. Urge hired Kramer to produce the 1992 Stull EP, which featured both "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" and "Goodbye to Guyville," a kiss-off to the Chicago indie rock scene the band had alienated Liz Phair would later borrow the term for her acclaimed debut album, Exile in Guyville. The new Urge Overkill debuted on 1991's The SuperSonic Storybook, which became an underground hit thanks to strong reviews and a slot opening for Nirvana on the American Nevermind tour. With Onassis in the band, Urge Overkill landed on their Stonesy fusion of arena rock and punk, as well as their idea to act like stars. However, the Butch Vig-produced Americruiser (1990) featured an improved sound and sense of style, highlighted on the near-college hit "Ticket to LA."ĭrummer Blackie Onassis was added to the band prior to the recording of its third album. nor its full-length follow-up, the Albini-produced Jesus Urge Superstar, gained much attention, primarily because the group was attempting to replicate the noise rock aesthetic of so many other Chicago-based acts on Touch & Go Records. with Kato's roommate Steve Albini the following year. Taking their name from a Parliament song, the duo formed Urge Overkill in 1985 with drummer Jack Watt (billed as "the Jaguar") and recorded their debut EP, Strange, I. The group's core members, Nash Kato (occasionally billed as National Kato) and Eddie "King" Roeser, were Midwest suburbanites who met at college in Chicago. Of course, Urge Overkill were always unlikely candidates for rock stardom. The duo kept Urge Overkill running through thick and thin, returning again after a lengthy hiatus in 2022 with Oui. When they remerged with Rock & Roll Submarine, the official members consisted of Nash Kato and Eddie "King" Roeser, the pair of singer/songwriters who'd anchored the band since its inception. Exit the Dragon, the first album released after the hit single, stiffed, receiving little radio or MTV support and the band soon went into exile, which lasted 16 years. Instead of breaking down the doors to stardom, the song proved to be a breaking point. Once alternative rock entered the big leagues, it seemed likely that Urge Overkill, with their exceptionally accessible combination of arena rock, power pop, and underground punk, would follow Nirvana to the top of the charts, but mainstream America never quite understood their ironic outlook, embracing the group only after their cover of Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" was used in a key scene in Pulp Fiction. The SuperSonic Storybook and the Stull EP were both underground hits in the early '90s, before alternative rock became big business. For a while, their stylish, retro-'70s outfits, matching medallions, and heavy Cheap Trick homages earned the group a popular following in alternative rock circles. Although they draped their quest for stardom in a cloak of ironic detachment, it's quite clear the trio members expected that if they acted like stars, they would become stars. Few bands ever lusted after rock stardom quite as blatantly as Chicago's Urge Overkill.
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