The entire Goons gang had stuff thrown their way this month (Krusty gettin' married in Sept!) and we had to look at our priorities and figure out how we were going to do this gig in Indiana, and it just isn't happening. Sorry, we were really looking forward to it.

It hurts even more to say, "hey, we're officially looking for a new drummer." I've posted enough about how awesome Kodos has been to the Goons and she's still part of the team, but if we want to hit the ground running after Krusty gets married and get this album thing over with, we have to start searching for a new drummer. :(

Okay, gotta do stuff, can't stare at this update page for too long, I'll start crying.

6-21-10 No show in July, sorry.

We WON'T be rocking out after all on July 23rd, unless something totally awesome happens, like if someone out there gives us a billion dollars (BP?). But we have a show in August, in Bloomington, Indiana, on August 14th to be specific. Details about that soon. Didja hear the new songs?

6-12-10 Whoops. Plus, new songs!

Bad news: the show at Rockbox was cancelled as quickly as it was booked; we are looking for a new place to play. Got a suggestion? Drop us a line.

In the meantime, head over to the Music section and hear some new songs, "I Bring You Love" and "Worst Song Ever."

4-12-10 Album #2 halfway done. So long, Kodos...for now.

Strap in, this is a long(ish) update.

We played hard in Wrigleyville and may have scared a few people on their night on the town, those who stumbled into The Heckler's Next Year Is Here party. Monty was photographed in his Cubbie...er, Expo blue. Okay, so some of us are closet Expos fans. I wear a Nationals hat these days, the blue one with DC instead of the red Walgreens logo. (what the hell is that about?) That's where Marge is from, cool stadium, I feel bad for Ryan Zimmerman. So hopefully Next Year is Here for the Cubs but I'm probably going to side with history and George Carlin on this one. Thanks to Brad of the Heckler and Rick Telander of the Sun Times for letting us rock out.

And double extra thanks to POOCHIE aka Paul from The Help Desk for filling in on drums for this gig. Especially after we lost touch almost a whole month after asking. He did great and we all had a good time. Paul filled in for us at Hot Topic about a year ago on guitar. He's a really talented guy. If we do that Futurama EP, it would be a crime to not ask him to help out in some way.

Paul filled in because Kodos (and Kang) moved. They moved out of state. Oh man, this is such a bummer. Monty and I are bummed. When we started this, we said that before we wrote a note or a lyric, we should find a solid drummer first, and not just advertise on craiglist or with flyers in a guitar center. It would have to be someone genuinely cool who we could talk to right away without having to discuss 'chops' or 'pro gear,' who could accept that we're not into the image, we're into the music and the silliness. We wanted to be a cartoonishly yet seriously rockin' band.

Not only did she agree to that impossible combination, she made it happen in such a way that we're not sure how we'll continue without her. She made riffage we weren't sure about solid, and produced a giant sound out of that tiny drumkit. And she helped Monty write some fantastic songs; as a matter of fact, almost all of album #2 was written by Monty and Kodos.

I could go on, but I'll just say that our paths WILL cross again. Kodos will be on album #2, as she and Homer went into the studio a few weeks ago and belted out 13 songs. So we just need to do guitars and finish up the vocals (hopefully Kodos will fly in to provide backing vocals). We're excited that we're HALFWAY there. We've got some cool plans to distribute the album at a low cost for all of you, and a great booklet design.

In the meantime, I MAY make up a free demo/"Single" of one of the new songs for y'all to download and share. Whaddya say to THAT? Tune in. And visit us on Faceook.

3-11-10 New show, new album?, new stuff.

Thanks to everyone who came and saw us at Murphy's Bleachers for Homer's Bday. He appreciated it, and we hope you enjoyed the new songs.

Speaking of NEW SONGS, Kodos and Homer are going into the studio in a few weeks to lay down drums and bass for album #2, "Bigger Than Jeebus." Thirteen new originals and our first recording with Krusty. Mike who rocked out with us on Halloween will be handling the engineering. Be excited.

NEXT SHOW: Saturday, April 10th, Harry Caray's in Wrigleyville for The Heckler's 102nd Next Year Is Here party. Baseball fans are required to attend.

We're on Facebook now. Don't become a fan, become a FRIEND and add us.

2-4-10 Domain repurchased, back online, lots of news.

First, I cleaned up the news section, just leaving up the reviews and interview. So scroll down for that stuff. It's been a little while since I've been on here, shame on me because this is our official site n whatnot, but a virus kept me from logging in and then our domain almost disappeared. But, webhoster Most Holy fixed the virus thing and Kang transferred the domains to me and here we are:

-John Beavers, aka Krusty Ramone, is our official guitarist. He was filling in and then got tired of filling in, so he's a member of the band, so that's cool. Good news. Expect a logo change to reflect that. Krusty was one of the two persons we thought of when we came up with the band, so I'm glad that he fulfilled his destiny and we have his talent and energetic stage presence.

-We're working on a show for early Smarch. Details soon, and I WILL post them.

-Will have an official Facebook page soon.

-Some new tunes will be shared soon.

-Homer has TWO, count 'em, TWO comic books out, THE PAUL SHOW #1 and CHUG-CHUG: INACTION. Both are collections of comic strips he's done, both are available at many comic stores in the Chicagoland area.

That's about it. Thanks for checking up on us and GABBA GABBA D'OH!

4-17-09

Here's the interview. Thanks again to Cooper St. James for the good times!

4-10-09

Hired Goons will be on Chicago's community radio station WLUW, 88.7FM, on April 13th, 10am, as part of the Cooper St. James show (www.cooperstjames.com. Tune in! If you CAN'T tune in, Cooper tends to make some of his broadcasts available on his site.

3-29-09

Hey, check out this review from the Illinois Entertainer!
Hired Goons pays tribute to "The Simpsons" via catchy punk songs on Everything's Coming Up Milhouse. The band understandably draws inspiration from the Ramones for cartoon tales like "Let's Go To Moe's" and the title track, though "The Homer" also taps into The B-52's. A cover of The Monkees' "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" adds to the fun, and Hired Goons takes on Shakespeare with the clever "I Like Revenging." - Terrence Flamm

Thanks, Terrence!

A REVIEW IS IN! From our friends at Roctober, who also published one of Homer's strips. Here's the review:
Songs about the Simpsons (successfully obsessive) done in the style of the Ramones (sorta). Do I even need to describe any further? Seriously, you need more? They have Simpsons names and do a love song to James Woods' doomed "Grimesy" character.

Well they spelled "Grimey" wrong, and it wasn't James Woods who played Grimey, but "Successfully Obsessive" will be the quote you read from this from now on. Roctober editor Jake Austen is also the man behind the puppet at Chic-A-Go-Go, which we appeared on in January, and you can see that clip in our video page.

I'm adding videos from some previous shows as I type this.