| The Jesus Lizard | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 1987–1999, 2008–2010, 2017–present |
| Label: | Touch and Go, Capitol, Ipecac |
| Associated Acts: | The Denison/Kimball Trio, Scratch Acid, Rapeman, Phantom 309, Tomahawk, Qui, Legendary Shack Shakers, U.S.S.A., unFact |
| Current Members: | David Yow David Wm. Sims Duane Denison Mac McNeilly |
| Past Members: | Jim Kimball Brendan Murphy |
The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas by vocalist David Yow, guitarist Duane Denison and bassist David Wm. Sims. They relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1989, where they found kindred spirits in recording engineer Steve Albini and Touch and Go Records. With the addition of drummer Mac McNeilly, they began performing live, eventually attracting an international audience with their powerful live show.[1]
The Jesus Lizard were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground…[who] turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial noise."[2] The albums Goat (1991) and Liar (1992) have since been recognized as two of the most significant noise rock albums of their decade.[3] [4]
Drummer Jim Kimball replaced McNeilly late in 1996, and was himself replaced by Brendan Murphy two years later, with McNeilly returning to drums for their reunion shows years later. Despite releasing a split single with leading alt-rockers Nirvana and signing to Capitol Records, the band failed to find commercial success amid the alternative rock explosion of the 1990s and disbanded in 1999. Their reunion tour ten years later garnered positive responses from audiences and critics. The band performed another reunion tour in 2017 and 2019.
The band began in Austin, Texas, when guitarist Duane Denison asked David Yow, formerly of Scratch Acid, to play bass on some songs he wanted to record. Yow suggested that he sing and have former Scratch Acid bassist David Wm. Sims play bass instead. The resultant group took its name from a common nickname for the basilisk, a type of lizard that can run on water. The trio rehearsed several times in Austin with a drum machine. Yow and Sims moved to Chicago in 1988, and Denison followed the next year.
Their first EP, Pure, was recorded by Albini and released by Touch & Go in 1989. It is the only record by the band that uses a drum machine. Drummer Mac McNeilly, formerly of Phantom 309, was recruited and the band played its first live show on July 1, 1989. Albini recorded the band's next four albums – Head (1990), Goat (1991), Liar (1992), and Down (1994). During this era the group also released a live record, Show, and a split single with Nirvana, Puss/Oh, the Guilt.
The band signed to Capitol Records in 1995, recording the song "Panic in Cicero" for the Clerks soundtrack and making appearances at Lollapalooza shortly thereafter. Impressed by his work on The Melvins' Stoner Witch album, the band hired producer Garth Richardson to record their next record, Shot, the following year. While rumors that Albini refused to work with the band due to their involvement with a major label persisted, both Albini and the group have stated this to be false.
McNeilly left the band in late 1996,[5] citing exhaustion from touring and the desire to spend more time with his family.[6] He was replaced by Jim Kimball, of Mule and Denison's side project, The Denison/Kimball Trio.
After more heavy touring the following year, this lineup recorded 1998's self-titled EP, their only record whose title is not a four-letter word, on Jetset Records. The EP featured production and engineering by Andy Gill of Gang of Four, John Cale, and Jim O'Rourke. Later that year, the band released the album Blue, also recorded by Gill. A departure, the record explored their experimental instincts previously hinted at on earlier songs like "Happy Bunny Goes Fluff-Fluff Along" and "White Hole".
In August 1998 Kimball left the group[7] and was replaced by Chicago-based drummer Brendan Murphy, formerly of the Wesley Willis Fiasco. They embarked on several more months of heavy touring, playing the final gig of their initial career at the Umeå Open festival in Umeå, Sweden, on March 27, 1999. After being dropped from Capitol Records mid-contract, the band announced its split the following June.
In 2000, Touch & Go issued Bang, a CD of 7" tracks and rarities. The members remained musically active: Denison began performing with Tomahawk, continued to play with Kimball in The Denison/Kimball Trio, and backed Hank Williams III on tour. In 2006, he also formed U.S.S.A. with bassist Paul Barker (ex-Ministry). McNeilly played drums in P.W. Long's Reelfoot recording "Push Me Again", and continued to play along with his wife in their band Mouse. He recorded with Steve Albini in February 2007 for Denison's Fuzz label mate Greg Garing.
In 2006, Yow and Sims reformed Scratch Acid, along with original members Rey Washam (also of Rapeman, Ministry) and Brett Bradford (also of Sangre de Toro) for the Touch & Go Records 25th Anniversary Festival in Chicago. A week before the Touch & Go Festival, the reunited Scratch Acid played to a sold-out crowd at Emo's in their hometown of Austin. Sims relocated to New York City, began working as an accountant, and maintained his solo project Dangerpuss. Denison relocated to Nashville. Yow moved to Los Angeles, working in graphic design for an advertising agency and joining the band Qui,[8] before pursuing an acting career[9] and briefly joining Flipper on vocals.[10] [11]
The Jesus Lizard reformed in 2008 with McNeilly drumming, and began playing concerts the next year. These shows included appearances at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, and All Tomorrow's Parties music festivals in England and New York.[12] [13] On October 6, all of the band's Touch & Go studio albums were re-released with improved sound and bonus tracks. The albums were remastered by Albini and Bob Weston and packaged with new liner notes and gatefold artwork.[14] Following the tour, the individual members returned to other projects and stated that this run of activity was "probably [their] last."[15]
In August 2011 MVD released Club, a concert DVD and double LP of the band's Nashville performance at Exit/In from the 2009 tour.[16]
In 2013, Yow released Tonight You Look Like a Spider, a solo album that had been in production for almost 15 years on Joyful Noise Recordings. The album was released in a limited edition, where the vinyl album was delivered inside of a concrete monolith, instead of a normal record sleeve. Yow stated that he'd been inspired to do the album by Mike Patton, and described his compositional process by stating, "I rented a saxophone for 2 months, I borrowed some guitars and some drums, I rummaged through the kitchen, I squeezed a fat cat, I poked and prodded and ended up with my very own music."[17]
In October 2013, the Jesus Lizard was set to play at the All Tomorrow's Parties event Release the Bats in Melbourne, Australia. They canceled this show due to 'unforeseen circumstances'.[18] [19]
In September 2017, the band announced their second reunion.[20] The band undertook their first tour in eight years that December.[21] They went on a tour in September 2018 and would play Riot Fest 2018 in Chicago that same month. In June 2024, The Jesus Lizard announced their first album in 26 years, revealing the title to be Rack, due for release on September 13 through Ipecac Recordings, simultaneously releasing the first single, "Hide and Seek", to streaming platforms.[22]
Their music featured a scathing mix of piercing guitar, machine-like drums, propulsive bass guitar, and psychotic vocals. Denison's stinging guitar often served more as texture or coloring than as a rhythm or lead instrument, while the rhythm section's stops and starts were simultaneously precise and brutal. David Sprague suggests that "Yow's disjointed couplets" are reminiscent of a "preacher speaking in tongues."[23] Denison cited in his primary influences, british guitarists such as John McGeoch from Siouxsie and the Banshees and Magazine for his work on Juju in particular,[24] Andy Gill from Gang of Four, Geordie Walker from Killing Joke, Keith Levene from Public Image Ltd, and bands of the US underground scenes like Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Butthole Surfers and Big Black. Denison said that he wanted to mix "the post-punk, minimalist thing with the more, ... esoteric, porgy vibe."[25]
Albini typically kept vocals "low in the mix," or much less prominent than was typical of rock and roll recordings. In Our Band Could Be Your Life, Michael Azerrad writes that "on the Jesus Lizard albums Albini recorded, singer David Yow sounds like a kidnap victim trying to howl through the duct tape over his mouth; the effect is horrific."[26] Yow doesn't consider himself a singer in the usual sense, but rather, thinks of himself as a vocal stylist. While appreciated as a unique vocalist, Yow was more often cited for his confrontational antics on-stage, often leaping into the crowd or taking off his clothes. He was also known to lick members of the crowd while climbing all over them and sometimes striking up conversation mid-song.
The band have been cited as an influence or as a favorite by acts including Nirvana,[27] [28] Whores,[29] KEN Mode,[30] Bill Kelliher of Mastodon,[30] Botch,[31] Converge,[32] Brand New,[33] Gouge Away,[34] METZ,[35] Alexis Marshall of Daughters,[36] Sara Lund of Unwound,[37] Jim Suptic of The Get Up Kids,[38] Jawbreaker,[39] Johnny Temple of Girls Against Boys,[40] Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit,[41] Red Fang,[42] [43] Joe Lally of Fugazi,[44] Henry Rollins,[44] Helmet,[45] [46] and Lydia Lunch.[47]
Albini described them as "the best band of the 90s, hands down ... They were a great band and they changed music for the better. Their music was more rigorous and more adventurous than all their peers, and they worked their asses off."[48] However, he criticized their decision to sign to Capitol, a major label, saying it doomed them to "become a third-string act for a big corporation that didn't give a shit about them or their audience".[49]
Current members
Former members
Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitars value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_album id:Lines1 value:black legend:Studio_album id:Lines2 value:gray(0.7) legend:EP id:bars value:gray(0.95)
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottomBackgroundColors = bars:barsScaleMajor = increment:4 start:1987ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1987
LineData =
color:lines1 layer:back at:01/01/1990 color:black layer:back at:03/15/1991 color:black layer:back at:10/10/1992 color:black layer:back at:08/30/1994 color:black layer:back at:04/16/1996 color:black layer:back at:04/21/1998 color:black layer:back color:lines2 layer:back at:01/01/1989 at:08/20/1993 at:02/17/1998
BarData = bar:Yow text:"David Yow" bar:Denison text:"Duane Denison" bar:Sims text:"David Wm. Sims" bar:McNeilly text:"Mac McNeilly" bar:Kimball text:"Jim Kimball" bar:Murphy text:"Brendan Murphy"
PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Yow from:01/01/1987 till:07/01/1999 color:Vocals bar:Yow from:12/01/2008 till:01/01/2010 color:Vocals bar:Yow from:09/01/2017 till:end color:Vocals bar:Denison from:01/01/1987 till:07/01/1999 color:Guitars bar:Denison from:12/01/2008 till:01/01/2010 color:Guitars bar:Denison from:09/01/2017 till:end color:Guitars bar:Sims from:01/01/1987 till:07/01/1999 color:Bass bar:Sims from:12/01/2008 till:01/01/2010 color:Bass bar:Sims from:09/01/2017 till:end color:Bass bar:McNeilly from:05/01/1989 till:12/05/1996 color:Drums bar:McNeilly from:12/01/2008 till:01/01/2010 color:Drums bar:McNeilly from:09/01/2017 till:end color:Drums bar:Kimball from:12/05/1996 till:07/01/1998 color:Drums bar:Murphy from:07/01/1998 till:07/01/1999 color:Drums
| Year | Album | Chart | Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Down | UK Albums | 64 | |
| 1996 | Shot | US Heatseekers | 28 |