The Jesus Lizard

The Jesus Lizard was a rock music group formed in 1989 in Chicago, Illinois. After the breakup of Scratch Acid, singer David Yow relocated to Chicago

The Jesus Lizard was a rock music group formed in 1989 in Chicago, Illinois. After the breakup of Scratch Acid, singer David Yow relocated to Chicago where he met guitarist Duane Denison. Finding his abilities on bass guitar lacking, David Yow recruited ex-Scratch Acid bassist David Wm. Sims for a new project. The trio called themselves The Jesus Lizard; using a drum machine for their earliest recordings and performances, before adding ex-Mule drummer Mac McNeilly after recording their first EP Pure.

The band took their name from a common nickname for the basilisk, a type of lizard that can run on water. While never finding much mainstream success, The Jesus Lizard have been called "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground ... [who] turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial noise, all of which received positive reviews in underground music publications and heavy college-radio play." Members of Nirvana, Helmet, Every Time I Die and other bands, claim the Jesus Lizard as their influence.