Effigies

The Effigies emerged in 1980 as one of the first punk bands to call Chicago home. Consisting of John Kezdy (vocals), Paul Zamost (bass), Earl Letiecq (guitar), and Steve Economou (drums), they were included on the early Chicago comp. Busted at Oz, named for the club that was the epicenter of the Midwestern scene.

In 1981, the band’s first EP, Haunted Town, was released on the small Autumn label. The band was unhappy with the promotion of their EP, so they started their own label, Ruthless. Their first release on their new label was 1982’s Bodybag/Security single. Ruthless would also release early material by other seminal Chicago bands like Naked Raygun and Big Black. Touch and Go reissued the Effigies compilation in 1995.