Urge Overkill

Chicago outfit Urge Overkill pursued rock prominence with more naked ambition than nearly any other act. Wrapped in layers of ironic detachment, their ambitions nevertheless made it plain that the trio viewed starlike behavior as the surest route to stardom itself. Their retro-seventies fashion, coordinated medallions, and pronounced Cheap Trick borrowings first drew a loyal following within alternative rock circles. Both The SuperSonic Storybook and the Stull EP registered as underground successes in the early nineties, well before alternative music became a commercial mainstay. Once that shift occurred, the band’s accessible mix of arena rock, power pop, and underground punk appeared likely to place them alongside Nirvana at the summit of the charts, yet mainstream listeners largely missed the irony and rallied only after the group’s take on Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” featured in a crucial Pulp Fiction scene. Far from opening the floodgates to fame, the track instead signaled a turning point. Exit the Dragon, the album that followed, met with little radio or MTV support and quickly faded, sending the band into a sixteen-year absence. When Urge Overkill resurfaced with Rock & Roll Submarine, the official roster consisted of Nash Kato and Eddie “King” Roeser, the singer-songwriters who had anchored the group since its formation. The duo kept the project alive through every phase and resurfaced after a long hiatus with the 2022 album Oui.

Urge Overkill never seemed obvious candidates for mainstream breakthrough. Core members Nash Kato, sometimes credited as National Kato, and Eddie “King” Roeser grew up as suburban Midwesterners and first crossed paths at a Chicago college. Borrowing their name from a Parliament track, the pair launched Urge Overkill in 1985 with drummer Jack Watt, billed as “the Jaguar,” and cut the debut EP Strange, I… the next year alongside Kato’s roommate Steve Albini. Neither Strange, I… nor the Albini-produced full-length Jesus Urge Superstar attracted notable notice, prompting a sonic overhaul that began with the Butch Vig-produced 1990 album Americruiser, driven by “Ticket to LA,” their strongest arena-rock imitation to that point.

Drummer Blackie Onassis joined before the third album, helping crystallize the band’s Stones-inflected fusion of arena bombast and punk energy along with their decision to perform as ready-made stars. That revised lineup surfaced on the 1991 release The SuperSonic Storybook, which gained underground traction through positive reviews and an opening slot on Nirvana’s American Nevermind tour. Urge Overkill closed their Touch & Go era with the 1992 Kramer-produced EP Stull, which included both the Neil Diamond cover “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” and “Goodbye to Guyville,” a pointed farewell to the Chicago indie scene they had distanced themselves from; Liz Phair later adopted the phrase for her debut album Exile in Guyville.

After signing with DGC, the band entered the studio with the Butcher Bros., producers known mainly for hip-hop work with Cypress Hill, the Fugees, and Kris Kross. The resulting Saturation arrived in 1993, sharp, stylish, and loud, delivering the group’s first modern-rock and MTV exposure via “Sister Havana” and “Positive Bleeding.” One year later, Quentin Tarantino placed their version of “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” on the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction, yielding Urge Overkill’s first pop hit.

The single positioned the band for wider success, yet internal strains intensified. They completed the brooding Exit the Dragon in 1995, but the supporting tour unraveled within weeks, with dates canceled and Blackie Onassis arrested for heroin possession by year’s end. Early 1996 efforts at regrouping proved futile. By December, Eddie “King” Roeser had exited. Kato and Onassis continued as a duo, departing DGC for Sony’s 550 Music in early 1997. After adding guitarist Nils St. Cyr, they recorded an album that the label rejected, leading to the group’s dissolution. Nash Kato issued his solo debut, Debutante, in early 2000; six of its songs were co-written with Onassis. That marked Onassis’s final prominent musical outing; he achieved sobriety in the 2000s and devoted himself to recovery until his death at age 57 on June 13, 2023.

Kato and Roeser reconciled in the early 2000s and reunited Urge Overkill without Onassis for a 2004 world tour. Scattered festival and one-off appearances followed until the band entered the studio in 2010. Rock & Roll Submarine, their first album in sixteen years, emerged in May 2011 with ex-Polvo drummer Bonn Quast and ex-Gaza Strippers bassist Mike “Hadji” Hodgkiss. Occasional live dates continued through the 2010s until new material arrived with the 2022 album Oui. Featuring a cover of Wham!’s “Freedom,” Oui resumed the thick, sinewy rock sound of Exit the Dragon.