J. Robbins has released a cover of Naked Raygun’s “Got Hurt,” which will appear on a tribute album dedicated to the band’s bass player Pierre Kezdy, who passed away in 2020. “Naked Raygun was a formative influence on my concept of punk music from the first time I heard ‘Surf Combat’ back in the mid-1980s (back when you really had to go digging to find the weird music that made life worth living),” Robbins reflected in a statement, continuing:

When I played bass in the DC hardcore band Government Issue, it blew my mind to find out that NR were fans of our band just as we were fans of theirs, and I’m grateful to have gone forward with members and former members of this band from hero worship at a distance to actual friendship. Covering NR is difficult because I regard the original versions of their songs as essentially perfect and I didn’t want to just do a pale imitation. I picked “Got Hurt” because it was kind of a forgotten gem from their weirdest early “Basement Screams” days, and it never got properly recorded or released except as a recently unearthed bonus track – therefore ripe for a little reinterpretation. Thanks to Jeff Pezzati for encouragement and help digging out the lyrics In this recording

Listen below.

Godspeed… A Tribute to Pierre Kezdy is out 7/28, and it’ll also feature contributions from Hot Water Music, Swingin’ Utters, the Methadones, and more. Profits will be donated to the Kezdy family. Pre-order it here.