The Busy Signals

A Chicago-based punk band comprised of five serious record collectors who can talk your ear off about Milk 'n' Cookies B-sides, the Busy Signals were formed by bassist Jeremy Thompson, an Atlanta native and former member of the Carbonas, and his friend Frankie Jensen, a drummer who had moved to Chicago to join the band the Tyrades. When Thompson and his gal pal Ana McGorty followed Jensen's lead and headed north for Chicago, Thompson and Jensen began talking about forming a band to play the sort of hooky twin-guitar old-school punk that they loved, and in 2004 they began putting their plans into action. Needing guitarists, Thompson and Jensen met up with Kevin Goggin, who played with the Krunchies, and they found Eric Cecil when he was DJ'ing a punk rock night at Delilah's, a popular Windy City watering hole. McGorty was also working at Delilah's as a bartender, and when the guys realized they needed a lead singer, Thompson and Cecil recalled the enthusiasm with which McGorty would sing along with her favorite records, and decided they'd found their frontwoman. The Busy Signals played their first show in early 2005, and soon made a trip down to Atlanta to play some gigs. While in Atlanta, the Busy Signals recorded some original material at a friend's studio. The sessions produced a three-song 7" EP, Love and Dust, released in September 2005 on Douchmaster Records, and in March 2006, a second 7", "Can't Feel a Thing" b/w "All the Time," came out via Shit Sandwich Records. Plenty of live work followed, and in the fall of 2007 the Busy Signals unleashed their first full-length album, a self-titled set issued by Dirtnap Records. ~ Mark Deming