Rock bands seem born to supernova. They burn hard, fast and bright for a period of time, only to implode under the pressure of a particularly difficult lifestyle.
The Effigies could have fallen into this category back in 1986 after their first break-up, yet more than 20 years later, three of the four original band members remain, still finding themselves drawn together by a mutual love of music.
“What binds us is the concept of the Effigies, this band that people don’t know how to place musically,” lead singer John Kezdy said. “We get labeled as punk, but I don’t think any of us agree with that.”
Arriving as a punk band that wasn’t really punk in a town that effectively had no punk scene at the time, the Effigies managed to carve out a decent following for themselves that has endured.
Following a limited reunion tour in the mid-90s, the band permanently reunited with bassist Paul Zamost and drummer Steve Economou in 2004. Zamost brought with him guitarist Robert McNaughton to complete the equation.
“It’s one of those things where you’re apart for so long, you forget what you were even mad about,” said Zamost of the band’s history of turmoil. “A band is like a relationship in a lot of ways, most of all that it’s about chemistry. And a few years back we decided we still have that chemistry.”
Kezdy agreed. “You fight, you argue, you break up, sure. But the good things tend to still be there, and you learn to blow off the bad,” he said.
With a new record called “Reside,” Kezdy and Zamost still feel as if they have plenty of good music left in them.
“Being a musician is not like being an athlete, in that you don’t wear down,” Zamost said. “I’m twice the player I was 20 years ago, and when we play, you can tell it’s still there.”
The Effigies are particularly proud of “Reside.” “[It] is as good or better than anything we’ve ever done, and a lot of that comes from a sense of maturity,” Kezdy said.
With the new album comes new fans. Young fans slowly have displaced the aged punkers who showed up in the early ’80s with spiked Mohawks and studded jackets. With these new fans, Kezdy sees a kind of validation for the band’s return to the stage.
“This is what we wanted: a link to the past but with a new audience,” he said. “Because frankly a lot of the people from the old days are either geezers or dead.”
You can hear the Effigies’ “Full Weight of Failure” at redeyechicago.com/chitunes.
