Reviews (page 3 of 7)
Absurd It brings on the table so much things: it's revolutionary, funny, stupid and go on
these funky boys are just having fun
They‘re so unusual
Das Album hat mir gut gefallen. Auch die Geschichte der Band fand ich interessant. Gestern habe ich ausführlichere Notizen zu dem Album geschrieben. Leider sind die verschwunden. Daher bleibt es jetzt bei diesem Kurzkommentar. 4/5
Overall, I liked it. It was pretty chill.
Thank you "No Dogs In Space" for introducing me to this album before it got pulled off of Apple Music, and for giving it context. Listening to 8 hours of podcast for each of these albums seems a little unpractical but it does help understand them.
if any artist was capable of going back in time to make an album before most of their influences even existed, simply thru Sheer Force Of Contrarianism, maybe itd be mark e smith because this reminds me way more of the fall than i does the ramones, or even the early garage-y kinks singles. i dont wanna imply the main virtue of this thing is coming out in 1966 but its pretty impossible not to think about...i havent heard the sonics, but how much sounded like this Ever at this point in time??? it all comes out of genuinely creative and eccentric choices mixing antithetic repetition of barely-formed lyrics, free jazz atonal instrumental flourishes, and essentially no recognizable compositional conventions of the time whatsoever (at least, none that arent distorted beyond belief). a bit exhausting even at a short length but this still packs an unbelievable punch, i cant even imagine how it sounded on release to whatever small number of people actually heard it
Kinda based to have one song. Good song had me wanting more
This album sounds like the prototype for the Dead Kennedys. It does feel like the last couple songs, don't match the rest of the album. And where out there to try and make "normal song" for radio play/sales.
Very interesting and unique album, definitely ahead of its time. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Favorite song - I hate you Least Favorite Song - I can't get over you
This was a treat, had not heard this band/album and it confirms I really do like psychedelic and pre punk rock
Thanks to No Dogs in Space for exposing me to the Monks. Their story is very interesting and certainly unexpected. For 1966, this sounds like nothing else around. Very cool!
Now we are getting into some deep list stuff. Never heard of The Monks before but wish I had. This album is great fun with playful songs that don't get too cheesy. The band is on the strange side, especially the lead Burger. They sound like a mix of a bunch of bands from the 60s like Kinks, Byrds, Hollies, Doors. I'm into their sound...good use of organ and sprinkling of other instruments. I'm a monk, you're a monk, were all monks...3.55.
Tolerable punk rock from 60s. Just the fact that I kind of liked it, makes it an exceptional feat. Pretty nice, old, trailblazing album.
Some interesting things going on in this record. Firstly, the fact that it was released in 1966. These guys were at the head of the punk movement for sure. Fast and rough. Sounds like The Stooges but 2 years earlier. It's like someone took speed then played Velvet Underground songs. Dude simply abuses the shit out of his keyboard. Maybe not the best music I've ever heard, but this was definately at the heart of the punk movement. Given that tidbit of information, it's really solid! Favourite songs: Drunken Maria, Complication, Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Choice, We Do Wie Du Least favourite songs: Blast Off! 4/5
I like this a lot. I can't in good conscience, give it five stars because it's new to me and I'd have to see if I return to it some more. But I'm digging it. It's more 60s proto-punk like The Sonics. It reminded me of all sorts of things from The Cardiacs to the Fall (who covered some of the songs) to early Frank Zappa and the Mothers. Oh, and Clinic. It has this great abrasive sound - distorted guitars and the clean organ droning away. I love some of the "guitar solos" which are just noises. And the singing itself, which, somehow, sounds very 60s despite just being a voice. It's a sound that feels weird for being made up of 60s pop and modern gritty punk. Like a kind of Evil Monkees. Great stuff! If I was still doing compilation tapes I would be earmarking some tracks here to be thrown in between something similar-but-different. Interesting. Fascinating. Great!
by 60s/70s standards this is a proto punk blend of the Mothers and Residents but a more apt comparison somehow is Ween...explosive, playful theatricality that morphs from genre to genre, serious to silly in an effortless cycle...i don't love all 16 songs but the spirit and execution of this thing is so uniquely beautiful 8/10
Honestly pretty good. Had to listen on youtube
Travesty this isn't on spotify! This is some kooky oddball 60's stuff that I gets my blood pumping. I'm into it. Music ripe for a Tarantino spotlight. So groovy, so of it's time, but in the coolest way. I'm digging it.
I wonder if it is just a region thing, but this album was not on any music streaming service available to me. So I had to find this one on YouTube; and I find it a shame because I would love to have it in my library. Perhaps I'll hunt down the physical LP? This is the one of the reasons I started this whole thing: I wanted to force myself into listening to a diverse selection of music. But I also wanted to discover hidden gems that I otherwise would have went my entire life not knowing about. I wasn't familiar with this band at all. Their origin story is quite interesting and unique, which I think is completely projected on this album. They seemed to be very much a product of their era, yet had a vision that was totally ahead of its time. The psychedelic elements are straight out of the late 60's, but their punk rock elements were almost an entire decade too soon. I can understand why 'Black Monk Time' isn't on some bestseller list, but I'm also retroactively frustrated about it. This is a pure record. It is raw, it is primitive, it is daring (for its time), and the world of music took considerable time catching up to it. This is definitely a band that deserve a lot more credit than they are getting. A must listen if you like psychedelic rock. But also a must listen if you like punk in its most stripped back form.
proto
True freak music of the 13th Floor Elevators variety
I reckon I could get into 60s garage music
Really good, way ahead of its time. Just wish it was on Spotify.
Is it important in music history? No. Did it impact anyone? No. Is it still entertaining? Yes. Now, it's not prime entertainment, but it's still neat for a deep '60s dive. It's full of nonsense lyrics and random instruments, but it's decent enough.
mjög skemmtilegt. hrátt bílskúrsrokk. áhrifavaldar. furðulegur samsöngur á köflum. stælarnir minna svolítið á devo.
Amazing album. Starts crazy and stays there, and it's almost 50 years old
I always like when an album comes up that really feels like music history as well as something unique. This made me a little giddy especially thinking of it in a 1966 context. Terrific!
De iets minder getalenteerde broertjes van de Doors. Waaruit maar weer blijkt dat ook in de jaren zestig dingen gemaakt zijn die uiteindelijk uit het collectieve geheugen zijn verdwenen. Toch heeft het wel een aanstekelijke energie. Even op Wikipedia gespiekt, het schijnt een punkplaat te zijn vanwege de teksten. Maar daar heb ik dus totaal niet op gelet.
Ahead of their time 👍
Definitely can see it being influential, and I like the overall vibe of these songs. For 1966 I can see how amazing this would have been... doing a 3.6+
I had to find this album, the digital equivalent of digging through crates of vinyl, simply because it's nowhere to be found. Not on Spotify, not on Apple Music, not on YouTube Music, only available as a YouTube video of the whole album. And it's weird as fuck, fuzzy everything, Doors-like keyboards, seemingly random lyrics, basic beats that Meg White would be proud of. Actually, this is the birth of The White Stripes 30 years early.
There is only two songs from this album avilable on spotify and it is an interesting album, very funny rock music. I like the playfulness
Really enjoyed it, a couple oddities, but very good.
Had to listen on YT. Fits the era sound-wise. Pretty fun at times. Enjoyable.
Was going to be a 3 but Love Came Tumblin Down bumped it up
Yes, you do need to hear this before you die. Not just because it’s extremely ahead of its time, but because it fucking rules. 4/5
Brilliant but gets a bit tedious.
This is not on spotify but the one song I found sounds like I would love them
I discovered that Spotify only had a couple of tracks available, so I found an alternative version that seemed to have the majority of the album tracks, just in a different order. I got halfway through and started to wonder what all the fuss was about, as it really, really sucked. Then I found the proper album on YouTube and found out what all the fuss was about! This is fantastic, shouty, weird garage rock with an entirely unfettered approach, probably due to the fact that the German record label had no idea what the lyrics were actually about. I enjoyed it enough for a relisten, so it gets four stars. It's not quite enough for five stars though. Also, the cuckoo song is horrible and I would advise avoiding it at all costs - it wasn't even on the original album anyway.
*Listening Note* While spotify does not currently have the full album available for US residents, it is available on youtube in various forms. . Cool proto punk album with garage sound.
Luke was very enamoured when this came up and we listened to it together on holiday. The Monks have a huge cult following due to their unusual formation. You can tell how this likely influenced loads of punk songs. Unusual and packed a punch
This was great, not what I expected it to be. Nice punky sound and very freeeeesh
I loved this! Gloriously weird.
A pretty wild, freewheeling album. This album has a very outsider feel to it. It’s crazy what these guys came up with and how it seems to have nothing to do with the rock or their era.
Deliciously weird garage rock that hints at a lot of sounds that weren't even in place yet.
Clearly one of the most interesting albums of its time! With Zappa's first album with the Mothers, it appears the flowers already started to fade in the second half of the 60s.
1966 and this band with only one album in career is THAT heavy? Little proto-punk and garage gem here. Always loved that one.
This is very good for its time, it is described as photo-punk but it’s from 1966. I liked the first half of the album better than the second but I think it deserves a higher than average rating. Listens: 1 Fave Track: Boys Are Boys And Girls Are Choice Rating: 4
Shame it’s not fully on Spotify, very influential in punk music history. Shoutout No Dogs in Space.
This is hilarious and chaotic and wonderful. Why is it not on Spotify??? The female vocal on Cuckoo really sent it to another level
Unterhaltsamer Garage Rock.
Very interesting album redolent of the music of its time. I’m not sure I would call it proto-punk but I liked it!
I've listened to a couple of The monks songs before and thought they were OK, but listening to an album as a whole makes me understand why these guys have such a lasting presence and fanbase (even if it is still very underground). F.s I Hate you
Giving this 4 stars because of the history behind it. This spasm of proto punk isn't the nicest sounding bunch of songs helped birth punk in a way. I dropped a star because some tracks felt tacked on and lost
How can you make a post-punk album before punk is even invented? I don’t know but The Monks did it. What we you want to call it, proto-punk etc… this is a weird fun album that I’m sure sounded like nothing else in 1966
Really cool for its time and influence it had.
Never heared of them before. At the one hand sounds very much like 60´s and on the other hand very vital. Reminds me on various later bands that I love! 3,5
Based on the description, I thought I was going to show this. But it was surprisingly fun and silly! It's nice to be wrong sometimes.
Punk rock may have many start dates, but the gestation of the germ most definitely lies in the year 1966 with this often strange, frequently unsettling, occasionally beguiling sole album from a band of non-literal monks. In both original and extended form, Black Monk Time is a blast of subversive brilliance, each second of each song is spent paving a path for many other soon-to-be like-minded unhinged visionaries to set their eyes to. The album's trajectory in the age of waning Beatlemania and oncoming psychedelia is appropriate yet it signalled where the future would lie. https://youtu.be/-l2D0QfJSt8?si=vtEnONu5KlroFLK0 Favorites: Monk Time, Boys Are Boys and Girls Are Choice, I Hate You, Oh, How to Do Now, Complication, That's My Girl, I Can't Get Over You, Cuckoo, Love Can Tame the Wild, He Went Down to the Sea.
2 sanger tilgjengelig, de var dødsråe!
Black Monk Time sounds like Brewdog's newest stout. Far from perfect (maybe even far from being good, let alone perfect), but so much more interesting and deserving of its spot than most of the stuff on this list. Most people on this website are boring stiff little idiots. The 60's are soo crazy man!
What a trip, early punk sounds. This was so fun
A lovely slab of garage rock.
A forerunner of punk that really doesn’t sound like anything else from the 60s. Scrappy and raw.
This is another hidden gem that I was hoping to find via this generator. Never heard of these guys before. Hard to believe this was 1966, before the Velvet Underground even! Not all of the songs on here are super memorable, and a couple are a tad formulaic, but they get major bonus points for originality and experimentation.
Un impresionante álbum proto-punk que sorprende con sus adelantadas propuestas. Sonando para nada como sus contemporáneos, estos estadounidenses residentes de Alemania se lucen con pistas bailables sumamente interesantes y disrruptivas. Un LP que claramente influenció a cientos de las bandas fundadoras del movimiento punk, garage, indie y lo-fi.
American GIs forming a proto-punk band in Germany on their free time. Nice. It’s rough, but I liked it more than I expected.
Etonnante histoire que celle de ce groupe sorti de nulle part, formé par des troufions qui s’emmerde dans une garnison en Allemagne, sortent cet album et disparaissent peu de temps après. Je n’en ferai pas mon album de chevet mais il est clairement en avance sur beaucoup, punk bien avant l’heure, contestataire, foutraque, halluciné, bruyant mais avec des harmonies vocales très 60’s par moment, un disque vraiment à part avec un son rugueux et beaucoup d’énergie. Un départ sur les chapeaux de roue avec “Monk Time” puis “I hate you”, “Oh, how to do now”, “I can’t get over you”...
A great new music surprise. Odd in an avant garde way at many points, way ahead of its time
Reminded me of Violent Femmes. Really great.
7/10 - 4/5 Really interesting nugget of history! Didn't expect a lesson with this album. Really experimental, really fun. Proto everything, like people have said. Extremely experimental for the 60s. It sort of fell off on the last third, though. The bonus songs could have been left off.
Loves the first track, and there were a couple that I would play again, but over all felt like it was searching for the sound punk perfected
Clear bridge between rock of that time and punk
Interesting musically, historically, and lyrically. Love the syncopation and skronk.
Wow how have I never heard this before?! This is exactly the kind of obscure weirdness that I'm glad the list sometimes provides. I can't believe this is from 1966, besides The Mother's and maybe The Dead who was making anything like this at the time. I hope it returns to streaming as I had to listen on you tube
Knew some of this from Ye Nun's versions (indeed, my kids love their version of "We Do Wie Du"). As raw and simple as proto-punk can get (for better and worse), and way more interesting than contemporary shit like the Beach Boys. Well deserves it's "127th greatest album of the '60s" distinction; generous 4* for inventing a genre or two
Loved it, what a story, American GIs in Germany, protopunk, krautrock, noisy madness. Probably won't listen again but gets a 4 because it's rad.
HOW did this come out in 1966?? I started listening before checking the date and my jaw dropped when I did. And the all of the songs hold up as well. Solid proto-punk. Surprised I hadn't heard it already.
This album had its more grating moments, but overall a wild ride, made more interesting by reading up on the history provided by another reviewer here.
Only rate on how much i enjoy rather than impact, but holy crap can see the influences this inspired and still a really good album. 4
Great album - love the raw sound - ahead of their time.
The ramshackle blast of primal rhythms—including an electric banjo (!)—and shrill, shouted vocals on Black Monk Time prove The Monks were wildly unconventional rock innovators who presaged punk's revolt against the musical and societal establishments.
Not fully digitized. Erin found it on YouTube. Super combination of Johnny Rotten's anger mixed with the Monkey's melodies, and German beer.
they were good
Had zero prior knowledge of this band or album and wow, out of nowhere, an extremely interesting and I imagine progressive album for the time. Influences of rock n roll and some hints and the punk scene that was the come in the following years. A very cool album that I’d happily revisit again and share with others.
À la fois très 60s (avec l'orgue et les harmonies) et très actuel, le rock n'a pas pris une ride.
Garage rockproto-pun. Del 66.
Hell yeah, finally a 60s album on this list that doesn't feel like it's ripping of one of the big B's: Beach Boys, Beatles and Bob Dylan
it's monk time. I wish this was on spotify, this was a pleasant surprise
Pretty good stuff. It's wanna-be punk, but more melodic. It's like the Zombies with a harder edge to it. Definitely has that mid-60s, mop-top sound about it. I'd listen to this again.
Way before its time, i did a double take when i saw the date of the albums release. Makes sense with the Vietnam references, and there are moments where psychedelic rock of the era peeks through. Definitely worthy of the list and a fun, short, punchy album.
Chulada de disco.
Non malvagio, anzi, molto piacevole. Mi piace molto "Compilation". Ma anche "Drunken Maria"
Nice and influential.
Really fun, like a funky This Heat
Feels anarchic and edgy even now. Fun to read the "story" behind this group and this album. I needed a win after more than a week of 2 and 3 star snoozers!
Interesting, caught my attention with the lyrics
I really enjoyed the monks. Very kooky and different
Definitely one of the wildest and most punk albums from the 60s that I know of. I think that justifies the rating tbh, although I think I'd probably go with the 3.5 rounded down if I had absolutely no context. C'est la vie?
I had to turn to YouTube because Apple Music didn't have this album... which is a shame, because it was great. The Monks are credited with paving the way for punk rock in the long run, but really, it's just a good album, full of 60s-style energy.
Pretty campy, but really well written songs and good musicians.
Hey! Hey! They’re the Monks. And people say the monk around.
it's monk time!
The Monks were ahead of their time. Their unique rhythms and sounds were wild and experimental. The Monks were truly an inspiration to rock and punk throughout the following decades. Of note, this album is not available on Spotify in the United States. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l2D0QfJSt8
Skulle ønske dette var på Spotify.. Stilig, egentlig litt sprøtt hvor moderne sounden er til å være fra 1966, mye mer rocka/garage og egentlig punket i stilen enn noe annet jeg har hørt fra 60-tallet (jaffal mtp ren rock, ikke særlig blues/billy preg) Har googlet litt nå, er visst noen kulturvitere som omtaler dette som det første punkalbumet
I’m a sucker for some good garage rock and this is great stuff. Especially impressive when you consider the year of release, it’s got attitude you wouldn’t except from that time. The Monks keep the pace for the entire 30 minutes and I had fun, did you have fun? 4 stars
Ni idea de quienes son. El disco no está en Spotify y no tienen ni 7000 oyentes mensuales. Esto suena a que lo ponen en El Sótano de Radio3. Al final se me ha hecho pesado aunque me ha gustado bastante. Solo lo he podido escuchar en YouTube. Tiene su gracia que unos milicos fueran los abuelos del punk!!!
One song only😖! It was good and I wanted to hear more. Oh well.
Love this album. I love the energy and the straight-ahead nature of most of the material. I Hate You is pretty out there as a lyric for 1966. Most of this album sounds way ahead of its time, and the backstory adds another layer. Crazy cats indeed. Would have given it 5 stars, but the focus and energy does wane a little towards the end, sounds more obvious, and gets a bit silly. Punk's not dead.
This was kinda fun!
It’s crazy to think this was made in the mid-60s. Protopunk and even ska vibes throughout and just a pretty fun time all around. Definitely glad I got to hear it. 7/10
Crackers, brilliant, irreverent, with a great beat... just what I'm on this site for.
A blast
Need to come back
cool proto-punk, a little skeletal
This one clipped along at a great little pace. Many short snippets with some energy and twang and grunge and almost ska? 4/5
First time I've heard this album. Absolutely loved it. Very Stooges, very pre-pre-punk.
Just a few GI bros casually inventing punk rock over 10 years before the actual punk movement started. This is literally the coolest shit ever. This is the musical equivalent of those 10th century Swahili coins that were somehow discovered in Australia and nobody knows how they got there. These guys were doing this since 1965, predating both The Beatles' Revolver and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. That's the power of the bros gettin jiggy with it together.
Proto-Gods.... God create world but... these guys... it sound like FROM the future.. not 60's music...
4/5. A surprisingly in your face album before punk even existed. You can hear every punk band through this album. And honestly, it still goes hard despite how early it is.
Interesting album I've never heard before.
What a weird album. Punk before there was punk, garage rock before there was garage rock. It’s rough around the edges but you can see how they’d be influential
This was really fun. I liked it and would listen to it again. 4/5
It’s Monk time! B
Fucking mental. Who knew a banjo could sound so damn angry. Too rare to be lost forever, too weird to thrive. Perfect for a list like this.
I know I have a double-standard when it comes to punk and punk-adjacent bands. It's because the goals of punk are different from most other genres. But it's also because I love punk music. I really enjoyed the hell out of this one. It's right on the front edge of punk so it's still got a lot of good, old-fashioned 60s rock mixed into the very punk ethos. It's a great combination for me and I'm legitimately sad that there's only one album from The Monks. I'll be giving this one another listen, for sure.
I’ve never heard of Monks before today, and the album cover isn’t really giving me any clues as to what to expect. It seems like an obvious guess, but maybe some Gregorian chanting or something? Let’s find out! Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Monk Time, I Hate You It’s safe to say that I was very wrong with my expectations! This was very punchy punk rock was wasn’t afraid to shout about being anti-army and being unapologetic with their thoughts. They had me pretty hooked from track one, and I enjoyed the album throughout. There are certainly some stronger songs than others, but it’s pretty astonishing to see that this came out in the 60’! This was so far ahead of its time that I had to double check the release date. Overall, an excellent half hour of angst that I quite enjoyed.
Excellent early psych
parece bem tri o punkzao das antiga mas nao consegui ouvir todo o album
I enjoyed listening to this. A great "one and done" band that had an interesting punk-rock take on the "British Invasion" style of popular music that dominated the day. It was familiar, but new. It's getting a bump because of the "hidden gem" status it has in my mind.
This album is wild, if you know when it was made. You can hear the 60s pop, and you can see the punk coming.
Garage rock. Me ha gustado. Un 4.
PREFS : Monk Time, Shut Up, Higgle-Dy - Piggle-Dy, I Hate You, Complication, Drunken Maria, Love Came Tumblin' Down, Blast Off!, That's My Girl MOINS PREF : We Do Wie Du
Never heard of these guys until now. Their back story is quite interesting. This very much inspired The Stooges and I’m all for it.
This is why this list exists. What the hell was this. I agree with all the other comments about how this was completely ahead of its time. This would have been wild to listen to at the time. What a find.
I don't think these guys are real monks
I was filled with dread when I saw that it was influential to punk but I came to really really admire this album. I would say I enjoyed reading up on its wiki and on the background of the monks more than the album itself but it still had good tracks like monk time complication and we do. This is the first experimental avant- grade album I’ve gotten that I’ve fully respected because it really was just 5 guys that didn’t like rock and decided to just fuck around while deployed in Germany with no moderation trying to make a new sound. No bullshit with clanging together found objects and recording industrial sounds. Even the cover is just black with default text on it.
Cool album, reading about its history and the story of the band makes it all the more interesting! Saved songs: Shut Up, I Hate You, Oh How To Do Now, Pretty Suzanne
This was a nice little gem. Really unique but also reminiscent of a bunch of things it probably influenced. I heard Zappa in here, I heard Faith No More in here, I heard a lot of grunge precursors in here...
Olipas vaikuttava "punk"-levy. Iski kovempaa kuin suuri osa tunnetuimmista punk-klassikoista. Bändin taustatarinalla ja levyn julkaisuajankohdalla on tietenkin tähän jonkinlainen vaikutus.
Anakirstista ja aikaansa edellä olevaa menoa! 4/5 helposti
Never heard of them, let alone heard them. Let's find out. I can see why this could be influential - rather psychodelic and heavy for its year. Pleasant enough to listen to but without anything that particularly jumped out as interesting.
Some of the earliest precursors to punk music can be linked to garage rock bands of the 60's. While The Sonics had an explosive debut in 1965 with their distorted guitars and wailing vocals, The Monks would follow closely a year later with Black Monk Time, their only album. Unlike The Sonics, The Monks had an organ and banjo backing up the songs, giving them a unique dimension to their music. Additionally, the lyrics are notably more aggressive and angry with an anti-war message. This sort of radical approach to music would certainly give punk rockers the blueprint for the sound nearly a decade later. Given that this is still rock from the mid-60's, quite a bit of the songwriting is still dated. The standard chord progressions, primitive drum patterns, and goofy organ embellishments. But for every dated moment, the Monks do something completely revolutionary for the time. It's a ripper and a half, and it's exciting stuff from the 60's. Praise be to the Monks and their forward-thinking fuzz.
A bit bat shit crazy but it’s short and fun 4/5.
I was initially worried this would be a bit too groovy, but then I heard the killer line: "I hate you baby with a passion, you know I do." And all was OK with the world. Nice to have a streak of cynicism and surging electric guitars among the bop.
I signed up to this for such albums. Never heard of this before - fascinating back story, and I enjoyed the tight but primitive sound. I own a couple of the Nuggets garage rock compilations on vinyl, and the Monks would definitely fit on those. And you can definitely hear them as precursors to lots of great bands like VU, Stooges, Pixies etc
One of my last few albums to be drawn was “The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators”. I thought they were the most “overrated underrated” band I’ve heard in a while, getting a lot of acclaim from hipsters who called them “proto-psychedelia” even when their songs weren’t particularly great. In the same year, The Monks were out making much more intriguing music with their only album, “Black Monk Time”. It might not become an all-time favourite any time soon, but I have to appreciate how radically different this must have been from the prevailing tastes of the day. It starts with a bang. A searing, stuttering one-note organ refrain, like a frantic morse code. Thrashing, crashing snares and percussion from a garage junkyard. The rhythm is beaten out on an electric banjo, cutting through the mix like barbed wire. And then a jagged, fuzzy guitar bares its teeth, as if to send Keith Richards and Dave Davies skittering into a corner. “Shut Up”, “Boys are Boys and Girls are Choice” and then the remainder of the album progresses in much the same way: repetitive one-two rhythms, barked out vocals and a chaotic lead guitar and organ vying for position. Every now and then a glimmer of a pop chorus breaks through, with some harmonies or a more easy going melody, but it’s quickly subverted by discordant organ, an abrupt cut or change, or a exorcism-style shriek from the vocalists. Take “Higgle-Dy Piggle-Dy”- absolutely out of this world. Drums are kept to rumbling toms, the organ goes wherever it wants to, the vocals scratch and yelp above the mix. It’s new-wave thirteen years early. Elsewhere, we have bold compositional decisions to thrill any listener. “Oh How to Do Now” sticks stubbornly to one chord for the first minute and 24 seconds. “Complication” has an interlude summoning the Beach Boys from a demented alternate dimension. The vocals in “Love Came Tumblin’ Down” don’t start until halfway through. “We Do Wie Du” is perhaps the most conventional, and there’s still something slightly sinister about its repeated playground chant with insistent, staccato backing. Psychedelia? Punk? Garage rock? New- wave? Basement indie? The Monks casually flick through genre after nascent genre like time travellers from the future. They might not all be stellar songs, but it’s an absolutely fascinating listen.
This album (1966) feels so ahead of its time. I cant describe it but it feels so modern but timeless at the same time. I was surprised to read the release date. almost a punky vibe at points - I could see the clash doing some of it? very much enjoyed
Monk time rad
Knowing the backstory to this album affects my view of it. Trying to put that aside however, it’s a delightfully odd album that’s both entertaining and intriguing. It’s place on this list is well deserved.
Coolt och aldrig hört om detta band...
Not too bad, not the biggest fan
Garage rock. Me ha gustado. Un 4.
Garage rockproto-pun. Del 66.
Un disco bastante interesante pero que me hubiera gustado poder haberlo escuchado con más atención, seguramente le dare mas escuchadas en un futuro pero fue bueno conocerlo gracias a esta página.
Interesante sonido black sesentero
What's this? I'm immediately reminded of Dead Kennedys or something like that except isn't this from 1966? Then we get an organ, which is about the only thing 60's about this weird, energetic ride. A ton of fun. Higgle-dy-Piggle-dy, Monk Time, Complication were particular stand outs.
I’m a sucker for Garage Rock, and the fact this album was created in the ‘60’s, and the band members dressed up at shows, those are also pluses for me. My spidey-senses did tingle with possible misogynistic lyrics, but again, it was the ‘60’s and most lyrics were all about “boys & girls”.
Definitely early punk rock. Super cool slice of history.
Something about the guitar on this album....
This is a very interesting album. I remember hearing about it a long time ago as one of the earliest examples of proto-punk music. I can certainly see how it's that, as well as how it fits in with a lot of the garage band music of the time. Overall it's a good album, far more pleasant and well-produced than I would have expected. There are even some songs that I think could have been released as singles. 4/5
This started off very standard psychedelic punk rock… but got a lot more interesting as the album. Defo one to revisit!
Some definite misses, but there were some good songs on here.
Loved it
Good album. Liked the sounds
This grooves and has an edge, seemingly upbeat, but quite nihilist. Made in Germany it doesn't have the psychedelic noodling of Jefferson Airplane, Doors, Iron Butterfly etc. Just mid 60s tight rhythmic beat groove and lots of fun.
I've recently gotten into Viagra Boys, and finding this Monks album is like stumbling across the base formula for VB. It's raw, tounge-in-cheek, and fuckin' nasty. Can't believe this came out in the 60's!
I thought this was some brit-pop type Oasis shit but it turned out to be some sick 60's Psych music. Better than I expected but a lot of the songs sounded like one another
fascinating stuff, really interesting.
This is a punk album before punk even knew what it was. Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy is a perfect example. Complication is a sound straight out of the 80s almost 15 years before its time. Drunken Maria is another one.
A standout garage rock piece from the time. The closest 60s album to resemble punk. Vocals are harsh and direct, using offensive language and touching on sensitive or nonsensical subject matter. It shocked me seeing tracks called "Shut Up" and "I Hate You" on a 60s album. Melody is fast and minimalistic, with short tunes that fly by (much like The Ramones or Wire) and slight variations to a repetitive rhythm that go out of control. Instruments are raw and often abrasive, but I really like the use of the organ. Very typical of the time in garage rock, just look at "96 Tears" by ? And the Mysterions or The Electric Prunes. Every track starts off with a hook that draws my attention, which is great considering many of the tracks have little to no vocals. No bad tracks, although the momentum dies by the last few. The bonus tracks are kinda boring, even their long titles are a bore to stare at. I really enjoyed listening to this album. Probably the most consistent garage rock (outside VU and Stooges) effort out there.
Songs from albums released in 1966 that the App has sent us include Scarborough Fair, God Only Knows and California Dreamin' and we add to the 1966 class list I Hate You from The Monks. As they used to sing on Sesame Street: "One of these things just doesn't belong." I can't believe The Monks made music like this in 1966.The only thing harder to believe is that Polydor signed them. How could anyone think that shit kicking music like this was going to sell back then? I Hate You was on The Big Lebowski soundtrack. If The Dude likes this it is no surprise he hates the fuckin Eagles.
Weird, but in a good way! Really odd to hear songs in English, but intended for a German/non-anglophone audience. Lots of influence on lots of bands I like, even though I had never heard of them before
The animals, scrappy rock n roll sprinkled with the doors.
Weird but interesting
Goil. Kannte ich gar nicht.
It's weird but I like it.
Bad. Ass. Dudes. While the Beatles were singing "la-la yeah-yeah", the Monks (self-proclaimed "anti-Beatles") scared crowds of well-behaved kids with this album. (7/10) FT: I Hate You
I glanced at the band, saw they'd released one album, and was confused how it was a must listen to before you die... Then I read the history of the band, okay... Beginning to make more sense... This stuff was ahead of it's time, feels more like a modern post punk album made in the 60s. 4/5.
This would be a TRIP live. It's like I'm listening to a band who's just dropped a tonne of acid. I enjoyed it a fair bit though it did make me a bit nervous listening to it, but it did go off the rails with the bonus tracks (especially Cuckoo. That's actually... Well.... Cuckoo.) I can imagine this being one of 18 yo Soipe's favourite albums and therefor I must give it a generous 4 stars. I feel The Monsters/Reverend Beatman listened to this when they were growing up
Scrappy, rough, and energetic
Pretty cool stuff for 1966. Not every song was great, but really dug their sound, esp. the distortion. Progressive stuff
Proto-punk, very good
👍 Enjoyed this a lot, beat, rhythm that probably ended up with the B52's
This album was really cool and so before it’s time. One of the gems this site has given me. This record is just very fun in general
Love this - had it for years, ever since the Fall covered a few of their songs.
Garage rock greatness
A bit samey but really good
Very cool album...I will listen to it again and probably again and again. I can't believe this has not been discovered by me to date, Right up my alley 4 stars
It's very interesting to discover these "hidden" things from music history. This is not the best punk that I listened to, but thinking about the age of this album it sounds so much fresh that it definitely worths it
Reading how the band was formed helps with making sense of the introductory “Monk Time”. Nowadays this album doesn’t have a shocking/revolutionary effect, so that’s hard to judge. I appreciate the Hammond organ. With some more repetition I’ll probably value this album just as much as the Beatles b-sides from this time. The bonus tracks (not included in the rating) are alright, they are intentionally more tame.
Jeden z tych nietypowych pickow, do ktorych trzeba przysiasc wiecej niz raz, zeby przesluchac plyte w calosci, podczas pierwszego odsluchu sie odbilem, ale jednak nie zrazilem, jak mogl powstac twor tak niespojny, a jednak sluchalny i unikalny w swoim brzmieniu, trzeba zaczac od tego, ze jest to pierwszy i ostatni album jaki wypuscily monki to material nagrany przez 4 hamerykanskich wojakow w zachodnich niemcach z dodatkowym cywilnym drumerem, niemcy lat 60, to oczywiscie musi sie pojawic krautrock, ktorego mozna sie tu takze doszukac, ale w odroznieniu od wczesniejszych krautowych pickow, tym razem kompozycje trakow sa bardziej rokowe dwu minutowe songi, wiec nie ma tu 15 minutowych kawalkow jak u kraftwerka, choc zdarzaja sie traki z minimalna iloscia wokalu, jak na blast off, co do samego wokalu, to jego kontent jest iscie punkowy, a raczej proto punkowy, bo to jednak lata 60, wiec scena punkowa jest dopiero w powijakach, jak przystalo na wojakow liryka jest mocno zwiazana z bezsensem wojny, miejscem czleka w wyobcowanym swiecie bez domu czy swego miejsca, obok tego duzo trakow nawiazujacych do romantyzmu zaserwowanego po punkowemu, ale co najlepsze w tych trakach jest to, ze jako muzyka grana dla niemca, daje to wolne rece jesli chodzi o kontent i jego przekaz, wiec o ile zdecydowanie nie sa to dobre wokale pod wzgledem muzycznym, to czuje sie z nich walaszkowata energie, zwlaszcza taki takie jak drunek maria, niby pierdzielenie trzy po trzy, ale jednak cos w tym jest, najbardziej niemieckim akcentem plyty sa wlasnie wokale na oh, how to do now, ktore jak dla mnie staraja sie nasladowac jodlowanie, jesli chodzi o instrumentale, to banda 5 osobowa, wiec calkiem standardowy rokowy sklad, zamiast klasycznych klawiszy zostaly wykorzystany elektroniczne organy philcorda, z cudow technicznych lat 60 dochodzi jeszcze elektryczne banjo, jesli dodac do tego mocne wykorzystanie overdriva dostajemy szorstki i surowy dzwiek, ktory wcale nie komplementuje samego wokalu, a raczej idzie z nim razem w parze, te dwie strony laczy chorkowanie ktore w jednych momentach brzmi jak beach boysowe harmonie, a w innych jak ich parodia, jestem w stanie zrozumiec dlaczego monki sie nie sprzedaly, a jednoczesnie staly sie kult klasikiem muzycznych nerdow, bo mnie rowniez kupil ten material, choc to tylko 30 minut na 12 trakach w wersji z 66, spotifajowa wersja zawiera 6 dodatkowych trakow, co daje laczny czas krazka 47 minut, z plejlistowych pickow musi sie znalezc otwierajacy monk time, potem kawalek wydany jako promo singiel czyli complication, oraz boys are the boys and girls are the choice, a caly album leci do biblioteczki spotifajowej, w ciagu dwoch dni prawie setka skrobli wpadla, co nie zdarzylo sie mi chyba jeszcze przy sluchaniu tej listy
sure
gusau
This one was out there. I liked it.
Definetly new to me very proto punk like the kinks liked it
A bit more substance than a lot of modern rock...and started out strong with a throwback to the times during Vietnam war...but it became repetitive. Still I’ll give it 4 stars but won’t listen again.
Seminal album way before it’s time however gets marked down due to repetitiveness and annoying quirkiness
I really like the sound, old school and still very contemporary sound.
Interesting early garage album I hadn’t heard before, you can see how it had influenced many other acts up til now
How many times have I told you guys it's black monk time? Now, finally, here we are. It was the most fun I've ever had.
Now this is why I'm here. Finding albums like this is what makes all this worthwhile. This guy's singing voice is so original and I Frickin' loved this listening experience.
I'm glad to have heard this on the list of 1001 albums I must hear before I die, since it clearly is punk nearly a decade before punk existed in the collective consciousness. That said, it has a lot of the weaknesses of punk: self-indulgence, noise for the sake of noise, an intentionally grating quality that was seen as a feature, but mostly just makes the experience less enjoyable.
Well ahead of its time. Not my cup of tea and there's definitely a sense of making music for fun rather than fame here and have to appreciate that.
Quiet something given the time it was released 3*
I think this is best described as ‘interesting’ - proto-punk / garage / lo-fi / noise rock, enthusiastic and chaotic. The current (June 2026) link to Spotify is completely wrong - only 4 tracks from 16, and two are EDM from a completely different artist.
Not on Spotify, and if I had been still would fine it meh
this was pretty interesting actually…. i thought it was kinda cool
HELLO, 1966 Nice culture-shock inducing snapshot of music back then. It's so distinct. Not my style, but I do suspect people had some really fun times in '66 in a wooded clearing having a little party listening to this with tight tie-dye shirts and frayed jeans.
These guys' persona is very weird. One of the guys one day decided to get a monk-like haircut just for jokes and then the rest of the bandmates and management thought it was a brilliant idea. So, they got referred to as the anti-Beatles, which adds up I suppose. These guys are pretty snotty, noisy proto-punkers, they have the correct spirit. The lead and backing vocals are completely feral, like they've come into society from extreme isolation in the jungle and don't know how to act properly. The lyrics were pretty shocking, especially in the first track "Monk Time." Straight up saying how the U.S. kills innocent children over in Vietnam. For a 60s album they tended to be a lot more subtle about the anti-vietnam war views. Yet on here, they just say it how it is. No sugar coating to be found here. It is also understandable why this album was never promoted or got released in America. Just doomed from the start, I guess. These guys are the epitome of proto-punk, just all around rambunctious individuals. A solid 3 album. Highlight Song/s: "Monk Time", "Shut Up", "Complication" and "Drunken Maria"
I like the message to the music but not my type
While I appreciate the proto-punk era and the artists doing interesting things, this album had a strong start and then fell off. Definitely some cool moments but other than as a historical artifact, it doesn't necessarily hold attention.
Interesting. Jerky at times. But a good listen.
Mostly neat how early this is. 1966 is super impressive.
1960’s psychedelic noise rock. I mean, it’s alright. I guess I can appreciate it for what it is. 2.5 stars but I’m feeling generous this morning. DNF (3)
Det här tyckte jag var rätt så underhållande garagerock. Lite tramsigt men rätt gott stök överlag. Saknar starka låtar.
does not exist on spotify, weird ai music comes up??
This is some proper sicko shit - being introduced has made this whole 1000 album exercise more worth it.
Absolutely worthy for the history lesson this is. Honestly wow'ed just by how proto-punk this is. Doesn't mean it's all good, but very cool.
Not my cup of tea, some good surprise though
Hard to find, think I listened to the right version from YouTube. Not bad, nothing remarkable.
The Anti Beatles! Spotify link doesn't work - try this instead: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8F5DB6F54A8ACB74&si=JXu612PLpBkE4df0
Diferente, bom.
Essential proto-punk from the 60s, very underrated and not talked about enough or at all, really. Great screams and songs, more resembling of rock and roll. Recommended!
It's fine. Nothing special. A bit of a pain to have to listen on YouTube because it's not on Spotify in full, but I enjoyed it enough to not turn it off
Täysin tuntematon nimi. Aikaansa edellä
A bit to long. They could have cut the silly songs, atleast it sounds like they had fun making it.
6.5/10
I don't like it but I get it
gotta be honest I respect this more than I actually enjoy listening to it but I went in expecting to hate it and didn't so that was nice
An interesting curio, and obscure enough to not appear on Apple Music. I could hear its influence and it was nice to have something different but it is not something I am eager to listen to again.
Had to listen to this on YouTube and wonder if that dampened the experience somewhat (adverts following a song doesn’t let an album flow in quite the same way…). Decent enough, and can hear the proto-punk vibe that likely gets this featured on a list like this. As I often feel with punk though, got tired of it rather quickly and couldn’t tell you much about the songs in retrospect. A shame, as I was interested in listening to something a bit off the beaten track.
First, whatever the Spotify link leads to its not this album. Search it up on Youtube. Falling somewhere around the intersection of The Velvet Underground, The Shags and Surfer Bird, The Monks were a bunch of discharged US Soldiers in Germany who thought they'd form a band. Let's assume they could play their instruments, but the instruments they played - an organ with one finger chords, an electric banjo, some drums but no cymbals, rhythm guitars - didn't seem all that promising. They started out playing pop covers, buy then discovered feedback and got angry about Vietnam. The result is this one album. They whale away at their instruments with everything played in sync as a rhythm instrument while the lead singer gives it plenty with yelps and screams. With 12 songs on the album and the longest at 3½ minutes, they're like a proto-Ramones With songs like "Shut up" and "I Hate You" and lyrics that just come straight our with "Why are you killing babies in Vietnam?" this isn't The Archies. But they were adored by the Punk Scene and kind of invented Krautrock. Is it a good album? Well, no. Is it full of great performances? Well, no. Great songs? No. Well recorded? No. Is it an absolute treasure and kindnof wonderful? Absolutely 100% yes! You could give it one star or five stars and no-one would argue either way.
interesting
Trailblazing unrefined sound from a gaggle of US GI's stationed in Germany who wore the outfits and haircuts of monks. Every instrument is a rhythm and the vocals are grating.
Call me old-fashioned but I think these albums that people consider deeply influential in the development of some genre of music or another really ought to be capable of staying in the catalogue. Unlike this one which has been deleted. The only things available on any of the streaming sources is a greatest hits album and some songs on compilations. I was forced to piece together the original track listing as best I could from those. Musically, it's okay. I can't see I hear the future of any kind of punk rock in it though.
Only three of tbe 18 songs that make up this album are available on Spotify. Based on this brief sampling, I think I'd like this.
Kind of interesting. A bit repetitive, but not terrible.
Enjoyable and fun again, shouldn’t have taken him so long to realise that was his girl in the last song
Musically strong, but not particularly unique. I wonder if bands like this end up on the list simply because they are more obscure. A name drop album for your friendly discussion of the 60s. You don't even have to hear the music to have the conversation.
Kind of a strange but verbose album. At times, it’s simple. Other times, complex and interesting. The vocalist is pretty talented and I can hear faint echos of future Robert Plant on a couple songs. 3.5/5.0
Caught a couple of songs. Cool!
For me I feel like the backstory to this record has pushed the reputation farther than it deserves. It's ok.
3 out of 5.
Psychedelic. This seems very much like a go-between of early 60s rock and late-60s psychedelic rock.
Odd, but decent.
3 The only two ways I could find to listen to this album were a YouTube playlist complete with ads for online casinos and cat food, or an Internet archive recording intercut with commentary in Spanish. I wasn't sure which of these was closest to how the band originally intended.
145. interesting
Full album not on Spotify. What I heard was dope
I love the dirty and chaotic 60’s production here. I was totally expecting some bubble gum shit but I was totally surprised. There’s actually a ton of modern themes and elements that I would never have expected. It’s really a bummer this isn’t on streaming. I feel like I won’t get to revisit it much and really take it in properly as I do other records. Listening on YouTube sucks. The fact that this is just a bunch of dudes from the military is hilarious. The lead singer was even the mayor of his town.. what the fuck is this lore?
This has the modern pyschedelic sound in the 60s package. Seriously listen to Diamond Jubilee by Cindy lee, I literally hear the influences its nuts. It’s good songs are short not really one I would come back too I’ll leave a more extensive review later
Pretty cool listen. I guess you’d call it surf rock on acid maybe
I enjoyed the garage feel of this.
3 stjerner alene for den interessante baghistorie men så heller ikke mere
Sjovt lyt, lyder temmelig forud for sin tid!
Fine
Well, that was weird. I think this ultimately ends up as another album where I appreciate the creativity but I can't genuinely say I liked it. Rounding up slightly for coming out in '66. 2.5
Important more than strictly enjoyable. Could be a grower.
Really just like most of the other 60's British stuff on here. 6/10
That was a pleasant surprise. I've never heard of this band at all and had no idea what I was going to find. For some reason half the album is missing on Spotify but it's all on YouTube. This is good mood music and very much 60s rock sounding, in a good way. A fun listen.
Old but not bad. They tried to be creative and uniqe back in 1966 and they succeeded.
Enjoyed it, never heard of these guys so I am going to dig more
3.5. I'd never heard this before but it's good proto-punk / garage rock.
5/10
Pretty good this, I like it. Feels ahead of its time. Does seem to lose the plot a bit in the second half and go all over the place, which I didn't enjoy as much.
One had 1 song on Spotify
First half of the album: ugh its the 60s 😔 Second half of the album: YEEEEEEEOOOOOWEEWWWWWW!!!
I’m surprised this came out in 1966, feels very ahead of its time. It didn’t blow me away though.
This was fine. Nothing too crazy, but was some solid rock music.
Thank Lights In The Attic Records & Distribution for being the reason so many old hidden gems are being unearthed for new generations of people. This may just be one of the earliest instances of Garage Rock and it takes place in 1966. This definitely has that 60s twang to it all but I am also impressed with how zappy it all sounds too. It sounds like if The Doors and Sonic Youth mixed together to make some noisy punk that was way ahead of the punk movement by nearly a decade. I can't even lie for as weird as this is there is a lot to like here, but it may take a bit before it clicks properly.
p87. 1966. 3 stars. Booker T meets The Stooges. Appreciate that it was ahead of its time - but really this is an average 60s garage band with some decent songs producing a half decent album. Point docked for not being on Spotify and having to listen to this on YouTube and multiple fucking adverts.
Not bad and very innovative for the time, but didn't grab me massively.
My rating 3.4. It’s Monk time! Garage rock tgat you didn’t know you needed!
I had a hard time finding this album so I'm not sure I got the full experience but this didn't really grab me in any real ways.
Interesting album. i never heard of them before (google the band photo. they dress as monks with Friar Tuck hair style. it's almost like a punk album before there was punk. proto-punk if you will (if it's not a word, i get the patent). while the first half of the album was a great listen, the second have kinda went off the rails.
Don't have anything really positive to say other than i understood most of the lyrics
Some tracks recklessly unhinged (which I like) others stir my dislike for rockabilly/psychobilly (which the monks obviously predate)
Buen disco, lo disfrute bastante. Tiene cosas muy interesantes, creo que su música es muy única, claro que con muchos aspectos de la época pero tienen un estilo distinto. Creo que tienen un sonido muy arriesgado, original y nuevo para la época. Además combinan muchos estilos y géneros, desde el rock, obvio, hasta el punk y el psicodélico. Me gustó mucho la predominancia del elemento rítmico en el disco. Le da carácter y potencia a cada pista. En general buen disco.
Another one I'm not familiar with (other than a vague sense that I might have come across a reference to them once or twice). This sounds to me like classic mid-60s garage rock, such as you'd find on the classic (double album) collection, "Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-68" (worth checking out, some time, especially if you liked this one). It's pretty good stuff, but I'm not sure that I see that it stands out that much from similar things being done around the same time, such as the tracks on "Nuggets." Still, for sure, it was an exciting time, of great musical growth and excitement. I'm not sure how to decide between 3 and 4 stars. I think the test of "would I want to listen to it again?" (answer: probably not?) suggests it should get 3 stars. But I'd probably do 3.5, if I could. P.S. I just read that they were included in an expanded version of Nuggets in 1998. So there you go.
This was a good album, definitely not what I thought but good!
As clear as ambient hip hop beats go, pretty good. If nothing else this list has been good for building a library of music to put on in the background.
Favorite track(s): Monk Time, Higgle-Dy-Piggle-Dy, Complication
Not all of it was available to listen to but what I heard I really liked. I’ll give it 3 for now but will revisit in full
Wow!
Not available on Amazon music
pretty cool considering the time it came out, but not my fave
This one is crazy to have been recorded in 1965 but not my favorite thing but it's still good.
Not on Apple Music.
Very niche album with a very cool sound. Liked it!
Feels ahead of its time
2.5, but giving a 3
Somewhere between Violent Femmes and Jay Reatard lies The Monks. Pretty good, but sometimes tedious.
This is hard to rate for me because it used to be 18 tracks but now spotify only shows 3. The 3 songs where fine. I will give it a 3 just because I know there was some quality in the now deleted tracks.
Couldn't get the album to play via Spotify so I checked it out piece by piece. Couldn't get all of it but it was decently punky old brit stuff and I didn't mind it.
I think it was great for its time but now there’s just so much better. Some of the music I enjoyed and it definitely gets points for revolutionary for its time. I had to search a little bit to find where to listen to the album. Favorite song: We Do Wie Du
Alright. 3/5
3.5
An interesting experimental 60s record. Like if the early Beatles came from another dimension. 2.75/5.
This sounds like every other album from the 60s, which isn't a bad thing, but not special