December 2024 • Volume 51 , Number 2 • www . illinoisentertainer . com
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COVER STORY : THE EFFIGIES t its outset , 2023 looked to be an unexpected banner year for Chicago punk-scene legends The Effigies . COVID had finally waned , national concert attendance had rebounded , and the once-moribund music business itself was on a creative upswing — a perfect backdrop for Burned , the band ’ s latest ( fifth ) album , a surprise power-chorded treat for longtime fans that it had just finished tracking after regrouping over all that post-2020 pandemic downtime . It looked like a pretty safe bet : The 1980-launched , on-again , off-again Effigies were poised for a pivotal comeback .
But their rose-hued horizon darkened remarkably fast when , on August 26 of that year , founding frontman and professionally competing cyclist John Kezdy lost his life in , of all things , a tragic bike accident on a Chicago route he traveled daily . His surviving bandmates were stunned and initially debated whether to soldier on . “ We were in such a good place when that happened because we had just finished all the recording and were rehearsing to start playing live shows again ,” somberly sighs Effigies bassist Paul Zamost . “ So it was difficult , since at first there was all this survivor ’ s guilt , like , ‘ Why is this happening to ME ?’ So I felt bad about that . But Andy ( Gerber , guitarist , and ** Burned producer ) wanted to do this reunion more than anybody and returned the question to the band . It ’ s not like it used to be — bands just continue on these days .”
Indeed . So the friends set aside a period of mourning for grieving , then reconvened with a new vocalist , Geoff Sabin , a graphic designer ( who assisted on the recording of The Effigies 2007 Reside LP ) who also conceived the timely Burned cover art — a stack of arcane-looking books set stupidly ablaze . Stylistically , Sabin ’ s singing was 180 degrees different from the late Kezdy ’ s snarl , but Zamost urged him not to overthink his role . He told him not to think of it as joining a cover outfit but to reclaim catalog classics in his own voice and then forge ahead with all-new Effigies material already being written . Still , that first sans-Kezdy rehearsal was painful for everyone , he adds . “ We all kept looking up , expecting him to walk through the door any minute .” IE ’ s Tom Lanham spoke to Paul Zamost .
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File
Anniversary Albums : The Tragically Hip .
CinemaScopes
Bob Dylan biopic .
Spins
Woke Mountain Boys , The Hard Quartet and more .
Media
Mike & Molly ’ s Billy Gardel is “ hearted .”
Calendar
1400 shows and 3500 bands , it ’ s IE ’ s live music calendar .
Classifieds
Music services , musicians and more .
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