Garage Rock Album Reviews
The Seeds- The Seeds
Released April 1966
As mid-'60s L.A. garage bands go, the Seeds were perhaps the most primitive, which isn't necessarily a virtue. The Seeds' first album is great if a bit repetitive. The best tracks are the classics "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" and "Pushin' Too Hard", and the rest of the album sounds a lot like rewrites of either of those two tunes. But hey, its still a great sound and I love the raw punk energy on this release. This is true garage rock, made by teens armed with a few numbers they hope will be hits. Sky Saxon was a one-note but more than suitable vocalist for this material. They were a primitive band, but I feel thats definitely a virtue, because their lack of polish more than adds to the atmosphere of the record. If you're a serious fan of 60s garage rock, than this is a mandatory album to own.
Artist Blues Magoos Psychedelic Lollipop
Released 1966
This LP came out at the end of 1966, at a time when psychedelia was still in the process of being invented. It was the era of Revolver, not Sgt. Pepper. So this is not the florid 1967-style psychedelia that many people associate with that term, but an earlier, garage-rock proto-psychedelia. Most songs borrow heavily from the style of the Animals, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, and Paul Revere and the Raiders. We Ain't Got) Nothing Yet" is an extraordinary and magical two minutes and ten seconds which, like the Box Tops' "The Letter," is one of those little two-minute blasts of pop which brought the transistor radio to life and which is the proverbial breath of fresh air on oldies radio stations daring enough to play psychedelia. Psychedelic Lollipop is the real thing, the band looking on the LP cover like Captain Kirk abandoned them on some forgotten Star Trek planet, the music inside authentic acid pop. They stretch J.D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road" across four and a half Seeds-style minutes, obliterating the Nashville Teens' 1964 hit recording in the process. D.Blue's "Queen of My Nights" may have inspired the Troggs' 1968 hit "Love Is All Around." The melody might be different, but the intro music is identical to what Reg Presley gave the world a couple of years after this. Producers Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus do a great job of keeping the intensity up across two sides of this album. James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy" gets splashy garage rock sounds and Mike Esposito's guitar work cannot be denied. Check out the jangle mayhem on "Gotta Get Away." According to the LP The History of Syracuse Music, Vol. 7, Esposito performed in the Escorts with Felix Cavaliere, and that vibe from the Rascals' rendition of Laurie Burton's "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore" is the same type of authority these kids pour all over "Psychedelic Lollipop." "One By One" has that band going from the garage group to the Beatles transition.
Artist The Sonics
Here Are The Sonics!!!Released March 1965
The Sonics that Wailers bassist Buck Ormsby took into a small studio and unleashed on the world show a live band at the peak of its power, ready to mow down the competition without even blinking twice. Their debut long-player (originally issued on the Etiquette imprint) is reprised here with new liner notes by Norton prexy Miriam Linna in the original mono. The flame-throwing hits of "The Witch," "Psycho," "Boss Hoss," and "Strychnine" are aboard, along with versions of "Do You Love Me," "Dirty Robber," "Have Love Will Travel," and "Walkin' the Dog" that are no less potent. This long-play vinyl reissue also boasts the addition of four bonus tracks: "Keep a Knockin'" (the original B-side of "The Witch") and three selections from an Etiquette Christmas album, "Don't Believe in Christmas," "The Village Idiot," and "Santa Claus." Another important chunk of Seattle rock & roll history
Artist Count Five
Psychotic Reaction Released 1966
There's the title track, of course, a total Yardbirds ripoff that turns out to be better than any of that overrated band's patented rave-ups, thanks in huge part to Kenn Ellner's brilliantly bratty strangulated whine of a voice. Then there's the mysterious "Pretty Big Mouth," a swamp-rock groove with the most bizarre lyrics on the entire album. And they certainly get major cool points for being hip to the Who in 1966, recording "My Generation" and "Out in the Street" before almost anybody in the U.S. knew who Pete Townshend was; unfortunately, that goodwill is negated by the sheer incompetence of both covers. And really, that's the problem with most of Psychotic Reaction; Count Five were not in any way a particularly talented band outside of Ellner's vocals and, occasionally, John "Mouse" Michalski's gnarly lead guitar. Songs like 'Double Decker Bus" and "They're Gonna Get You" may be garage rock legends, thanks to Lester Bangs, but frankly, you'll find a half-dozen better songs on any of the Pebbles compilations.
