Album Notes

Naked & Shameless, Chicago's infamous acoustic punk kings of kitch rock, are compiled in this limited edition collection of songs from their earliest recordings through Hot Dawg (their "pre-Veni" period). This draws heavily from 13 Drinking Songs, and contains a number of oddities and rarities.

Legend has it that Buck (Naked) and Dave (Shameless) met in a karaoke bar in Indonesia. Buck grew up in a trailer park in southwest Ohio, exhibiting signs of his huge talent from a very early age. Dave originally hails from Vancouver, Canada, but there is Kentucky in his genetic memory. It is through this filter (and a good deal of drinkin') that Buck and Dave have absorbed the music of their surroundings, from honky-tonks, to skid row bars, to little punk clubs. They personify the search for good times and strange salvation. Naked & Shameless are a fairly unique entertainment experience -- when grasping for a comparison, writers have suggested a lounge-punk version of Tenacious D, as both acts are two guys who lace their music with social parody and bawdy humor, but that's a pretty incomplete comparison. Think of Mojo Nixon, or Lux Interior doing show tunes, or duets by Elvis and Shane MacGowan, or countrified Ween. Naked & Shameless are also know for interactivity in their live show -- they encourage high-spirited participation. Fans are rabid. Detractors seethe.