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Here Are the Sonics
The Sonics
1965
Wikipedia
Reviews
Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!I’d actually only heard of The Sonics because LCD Soundsystem referenced them in a song I really liked about 15 years ago (I still do, but I did 15 years ago too). I had some vague idea that they were an 80s, avant-garde, electronic band, so now I feel like a bit of a fool. Absolutely loved this album, or more specifically I absolutely loved the songs that weren’t covers. The covers were still good but I much preferred their original stuff. I spent a lot of my teenage years in the back rooms of various dodgy North London pubs watching Billy Childish gigs without ever thinking to explore the origins of his sound. I wish I’d done a bit more investigation. This album was recorded more than a decade before punk broke, but it still sounds raw and vital over half a century later. Loved it. Five stars for the original stuff and four for the covers.
hmm. After suffering through a number of tracks, I did a little recon on this band as to ... well, why they're in this 1001 list at all. "Major influence" on garage and punk bands...simple chord progressions...tonal aggression." ... vocals: "wwWOWWWWWWWW!!!!!" <lather/rinse/repeat ad nauseum> Just because you're among the first to create a subgenre of not enjoyable noisy music doesn't really make you a legend IMO. Then again, to each their own :P It's not my bag. (the covers were not terrible, admittedly. If I were being particularly snarky I'd accuse them of sprinkling them perfectly throughout the album to prevent some ppl from turning it off...) 2/10 1 star
“!!!Here Are The Sonics!!!” by The Sonics (1965) I wonder how many people would have bought this record if they had left off the six exclamation points? This album is of interest only to those recorded music ‘genealogists’ who fondly ponder “Who influenced who?”, a topic which is overrated and of limited critical value (especially when it comes to punk). Only four of the twelve songs in this non-cohesive collection are original. The eight covers are not covers of obscure compositions (which can be artful), but are rather recycles of major hits by other artists, whose performances are far superior to The Sonics. As a matter of fact, the attempt to seriously listen to The Sonics perform The Contours’ “Do You Love Me?”, Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”, etc. is impeded and distracted by memories of the original sounds. These covers are pop music at its worst. (“Night Time Is the Right Time” is painful. Please don’t listen to this track. You’ve been warned.) So why do we pull !!!Here Are The Sonics!!! out of the attic? I’m not sure. With primitive engineering that completely muddles the mix, and a small-room ambience that induces claustrophobia, the record was bad from the get-go. One wishes that the people who produced the first digital version would have inserted scratches and dust pops to suggest the ‘sound’ of musty ‘smell’. It is worth noting that in the original compositions “Strychnine”, “Psycho”, and “The Witch”, singer/songwriter Gerry Roslie pushes a few lyrical boundaries, but in retrospect, it’s rather inconsequential. Other groups at the time were far more revolutionary. And if I have to listen to one more screamed “Wow!” by Roslie, I swear I’ll warp this vinyl with a blow dryer and play it for my in-laws. Put this one back in the attic. 1/5
Just good old fashioned garage rock played with all the all the rawness of a live set in the studio. The Beatles made these songs sound better yes, but I would of rather seen these guys live around the same time.
There are definite flaws with this album. The sound quality is terrible and there are far too many standard covers on the album. However, it's easy to hear how this album influenced the punk bands that came after it. It just has that energy that comes with listening to punk music. The original songs are far better than the covers. It's clear just from listening to this that this band would have been amazing live. I wish a good recording of them existed 4/5
This makes me want to dance. It rocks. A really fun album. I did think it was older than it is, I estimated about 1958-9. Most of the album is covers, but that was sort of the done thing back in the day. Fun album, it doesn't need to be analysed too much, just smile and enjoy.
Almost all the songs sound the same: "Yeeoww!" + blues rock progression + "Yeeoww!" + nearly the same guitar / sax solo. Recorded too hot. Lots of covers. I don't care. This album is amazing. I bought it (actually "The Ultimate Sonics") years ago and still come back to it. Raw, youthful energy. Favorite song: Money
I adoe garage rock, and this is a wondrous slab of it. Exactly what you want of a Saturday night. Simple, unpretentious, clearsighted, slamming rock 'n' roll.
Don’t let the sweaters fool you, this is loud, obnoxious, and sweaty rock(early punk?). Strychnine, Have Love Will Trave are two of the standouts
They are the anti-Beatles right? Get rid everything that "good and pure" or radio friendly about the Fab 4, rough it up, add some fuzz and some guttural vocals and you have The Sonics. Not detracting from either band but I am so glad The Sonics existed to lay the roots of punk and Garage rock. I love them and could listen to this album in repeat for hours (which I did).
This smashed me over the head in 2022. Imagine what effect it had in 1965. The Witch is amazing, Roslie's vocals are insane, something he carries on for the whole album. But the ultimate sound is that quivery bass. I don't know if it's backed by bass pedal, but it just sounds EVIL! Only 30 minutes. Perfect. It leaves you begging for more. Apparently the Seattle scene was full of bands like The Sonics. If I ever get a ride in the TARDIS I'm going to Seattle in the early '60s. Then I'll stay for 30 years. (I won't be going to Starbucks. That coffee is awful)
After seeing the Dictators on previous page, I was just thinking I hadn't revisited any "proto-punk" records for a few years. I don't remember liking the Dictators, and I didn't remember much at all about the Sonics. Looks like I downloaded this album in 2013, and I probably haven't revisited it. Anyway, HOLY CRAP this is better than I remembered/expected. Under 30 mins, and just a burst of energetic garage rock, containing most of what is good about rock n roll. As someone who isn't generally a huge fan of the mainstream rock canon, this album is fun enough to make me temporarily change my mind. The sound is crisp and competent, but with enough sloppiness & rough edges to make it sound like they're not trying. They cover some early rock "standards". They keep everything simple & it works just fine. My only complaint is that singer keeps trying to do a James Brown "WAAAAAAAH" / "WOOOOOOW". It's fucking annoying and lame whoever does it.
Some great early punk. Lots of 60s waows and surprisingly great guitar tones. Original tracks are great. Quite boring seeing a lot of the same covers being done on a lot of bands of that era but I suppose that was the done thing. Overall very good
4 for originality. Nice use of distortion to give them an early punk sound. You can definitely hear their embracing of the early 60's songwriting, but very forward-thinking production, and attitude, that would spawn The Stooges and The Hives.
A lot of these songs are covers, but the Sonics were very influential to garage and punk rock.
There's a real Nuggets feel here. I can hear how this may have influenced later punk and garage rock bands. Cool sound but I’d be more impressed if they had the originals to match. Maybe if they’d stuck around longer they would have produced something really amazing. 2.5/5 Favourite track: Do You Love Me
Noisy punk rock in the 60s? Yes please. A couple of the covers on here are really stellar, well others kind of fall short, but overall it's an important record for more grungey/punk-y production. Fav Tracks: Do You Love Me, Have Love Will Travel
Sorry boys, The Beatles got there before you, and did it way, way better. Lots of screaming and faux excitement but the music behind it is flat as a pancake. I'm guessing these are Americans trying to emulate the Mersey sound. Whoever they are, it doesn't work. Just sounds like 10 alternate and inferior versions of Twist and Shout.
Awesome innovative band, ahead of their time. Fun fact, The Black Keys were inspired immensely by this band, you can hear it in a lot of their older music
Super Fun with some absolute classics on here. It's short and sweet too. Top 2 tracks for me are Strichnine and Have Love Will Travel = Guy Richie - Rock N Rolla.
More nice shots than I expected, with classics littered throughout. Definite influencers of Black keys, who covered ‘have love will travel’
Absolutely LOVED this. Total classics in there and banging riffs. Its a K Town banger for me
At first listen i'm like 'what's this, loads of 60's white boys covering tracks' but oh my - the energy that goes into this. Forerunner of punk / grunge, used in a many a tv advert - very little original material - but The Witch is just disconcerting.
I loved this album. The cover photo betrays the solid rock contained therein. Highly recommend if you enjoy classic rock. Added, with pleasure.
Early rock and roll containing the kernels of punk and grunge. You love to hear it! Bonus star for being less than 30 minutes long! In and out and over with!
Absolutely love this album. The thought of the MFrs doing this in 1965 brings me so much joy and has so much impact on all the music I love that came after it. 🤘
It's still incredible to think this album was recorded in the middle of the sixties. I've read unconvinced reviewers in this group saying you don't necessarily need to go back to the hidden origins of a genre, but I strongly disagree here. The genre at stake is punk, here, of course--or should I say, rockabilly played in such a intense fashion that it barely sounds like it. And this thing is *wild*, even 57 years later. To me, it seems that Washington State, with its lumberjacks and geographically remote location on the US map, knows a thing or two about authenticity and intensity. It took almost 30 years to make it a landmark place for that sort of music, with Nirvana and the other great bands of that area. But things did start then. And it's just a riot being able to listen to it. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 918 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 44 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 23 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 19
So, a couple of the covers appeared on early Beatles albums. On here, they are actually better bursts of raw excitement. It's fast and loose and it feels like it could fall apart at any moment which makes it all dead exciting. Add to that a song as fun as Have Love will Travel, and the fact it BLAZES through 12 tracks in less than 30 minutes and you have a real treat on your hands. Loved it.
Great garage rock, progenitors of punk music. Have a great way of making all the covers their own.
Nice old school music, really energetic. Good music to wake up to, even if you wake up in the PM.
makes me want to play it as loud as i can in an actual garage. weird (and great!) to hear ray charles song in this context. fav track: good golly miss molly
The Witch is one of the creepiest songs of all time and I GOSHDARN LOVE IT. The Sonics have to be one of the coolest bands of the sixties. Love Gerry Roslie's maniacal rasp as well. I start to lose interest a bit when they cover the Rock n' Roll standards.
Very nice garage rock'n'roll. There's a good mix of really good covers of classic rock'n'roll songs and a couple of original arrangements which are plenty good themselves.
Amazing album. The drum sound on this album is insane. 8/10 1. Have Love Will Travel 2. Strychnine 3. The Witch
Belle surprise, bon band et en avance sur le rock punk. J’ai aime tout l’active. 4.25*
I have heard covered versions of lots of these songs but didn't know that they could all be attributed to one band. It was good to hear the originals but the lead singer has a crutch on that woo scream and every single song
The cover art did not prepare me for what I heard! I liked it a lot, and surprised it's so old tbh
I had no idea that this was the band who did all those classic songs, but I loved it! It was good vibes and fun music :)
Not only are they insanely important in the history of music, but they rock harder than any band at the time. Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, they also don't overstay their welcome. I'm willing to bet that with slightly more nuanced songwriting that they'd have more barn-burners like The Witch, but some crazy guitar solos make it seem like music your parents would hate. And that's awesome.
Il suono distorto del disco li rende scoppiati e si sposa benissimo con la loro energia. Per me questo sarebbe un 3.5 però voglio premiarli perchè comunque mi hanno stupito. Sembrano un gruppo punk che fa musica anni 60 e questa cosa mi piace.
It was good. 3.5 stars. Golden pop oldies but with a punk vine a la the hives or the vines. But are these all covers? I think I need more context for why this is a classic album.
Fun energetic garage rock. Way early 60s. White covers of 50s R&B. Raw sound. A level up in recording from Louie Louie but just barely. Tacoma meets the first Beatles LP, without the ballads.
Very enjoyable. The golden oldies done really well. We had a good dance around the kitchen
60s punk before punk was a thing. A lot of covers that, while pretty straight, are still given a hard edge and a little more shouting than the originals. A quick and fun listen to boot.
Weird that people were making this kind of music in Tacoma a Washington in 1965. Pretty enjoyable and the original songs were good 8/10
I didn't expect to like this album as much as I did. Garage rock isn't usually me thing and I'm not into bands like the White Stripes all that much. This album was a great listen from start to finish though. I enjoyed their originals just as much as the cover tunes. I can totally see why this one is on the list!
Mostly covers, sounds like it was recorded in an old oil drum. But the sheer energy and power at play here can't be denied, and the original tracks are the clear progenitors of garage punk. A blast!
This is a really great album of a lot of good covers. If these were all written by the band it'd be an easy 5.
A fun mix of blues, rock 'n roll, and punk. I really enjoyed the explosive wails of the singer.
Qué entretenido disco. Me encantó el sonido rasposo y acelerado que no se siente de 1965. Los varios covers que trae el disco son muy buenas versiones y las originales de hecho valen la pena. Curiosamente, los covers así rasposos suenan como a una de esas bandas mexicanas de los 60, rockeando no más por que sí.
Como una cubetada de agua fresca, lo que pudiera ser una banda más que estaba tratando de imitar el éxito de la música de moda liderada por los Beatles termina siendo algo que, a mi parecer, es incluso mucho mejor que los discos de esos mismos Beatles en esa época. Cuando comparas este disco con esos discos iniciales de los Beatles te encuentras que aquí hay una banda con la misma tónica pero mucho más liberados, menos cuidados y más crudos. Se siente cómo aquí no hay un productor estrella que sabe guiar a los muchachos hacia el sonido de las masas y en este caso la música es la que termina ganando. Me recordó a bandas como Screaming Lord Sutch que a pesar de tocar "rocanrolitos" lo hacían con una personalidad enorme.
Great garage band. Excellent cover of 'The Night Time is the Right Time'. 12 songs in 29 minutes gets bonus points...
The original punk sound was birthed in Seattle by The Sonics. A very important piece of Seattle's rock & roll history.
4.3 - garage rocking album full of raw energy that felt years ahead of its time. Loved walking the dog. Will be revisiting.
Þessir hljóta að hafa verið aðaltöffararnir í heimabæ sínum á sínum tíma. Mjög hresst og hrátt!
I like it - raw and rudimentary in execution but this really blows the cobwebs away. I can understand the influence this supposedly had on punk, but what I hear most strongly coming through is the first couple of J Geils Band albums. 'Boss Hoss' especially so, but the cover of 'Money' also seems to have its reflection in the J Geils' version of 'First I Look at the Purse'. Tidied up a little and 'Have Love Will Travel' would've been a monster hit in the 00s for one of the big garage band revival acts.
Overall, a great album. Would definitely listen again. Lots of classics on here but my favorite would have to be Walking the Dog. Overall just a really fun and killer sound. Classic.
50s/60s rock'n roll vibe, surf-rock styled guitars. Classic tunes found in this album like "Do you love me?" and "Roll over Beethoven".
Ça rock solide. Plusieurs reprises, mais l'énergie qui se dégage de cet album est folle. Tu comprends avec cet album qu'on s'en va vers des bands comme les Stooges dans les années qui suivent. Une écoute vraiment agréable. Pièces préférées: Strychnine, Do You Love Me
This has to be one of the most covered albums ever. Every song was a very recognizable super hit… just not this version.
As old as this is, and the band looking like a basic british rock band, this was an awesome album. We got some classics with Do you Love Me and Roll Over Bethoven but a bunch of others were great like The Witch and Have Love Will Travel. These guys were a ton of fun.
Yeah I like this… it doesn’t blow me away though. Pretty trend setting in terms of style; very ahead of its time. So it’s a generous 4*
4/5. Great covers record, proto-punk classic. I don’t love every track, but there are many goodies
Raw American 69s garage. Lottsa screaming and sax....some original songs but lots of covers of rock n roll standards..upfront and honest. What it does it does well. Can't justify a 3. It's a 4 from me.
even though it was all kinda samey sounding and made me wish i was listening to little richard instead i still enjoyed it more than i thought.
Good sounding stuff, something id hear at a diner. Bunch of covers at the end were a treat
Undoubtedly a classic. I love some of the songs on this album, but I can't fully enjoy the full embodiment of dad rock that is Guns N Roses. A bit cringey at times
I can hear the sixties sound in this album. Had not heard of the gerne 'Garage Rock'. Nice album with a lot of well known covers. Nice to see that all the songs are within the 3 minutes what was "a standard".
Not bad, but ilnot much variation between songs. Definitely got a bit stuck of the screamed “waaaaaahhhhhh!”
These guys were before their time with this right? 1965! Sounds like they are having fun
I know it’s a style of it’s time but half way through album the screaming seemed too much and took away from the song too much.
Psychobilly, da liegt Gewalt in der Luft voll Sex and Speed and Prügeleien. Als wäre statt Marty McFly (der ungezähmte) Biff Tannen bei Marvin Barry and the Starlighters eingestiegen und hätte die Band nach seinen Vorstellungen versklavt. Roh und ultrabrutal, solche Typen machen mir Angst mit ihrer Wildheit, kein Witz!
Kolejny klasyczne rokowanie, podobny rocznik, a nawet starszy niz byrdsy, bo 65, ale klimatycznie calkiem inna bajka, nie ma tutaj za bardzo wlasnych kompozycji, a glownie interpretacje klasycznych kawalkow rokowych nawet z lat 50, a wszystko jest zagrane tak jakby byl to ich ostatni live wystep jaki maja zagrac, energia nie tylko na wokalu, ale i instumentach, polaczona z surowoscia nagrania brzmi jak dziadek punkowania, albo nawet bardziej garazowego punkowania, zwlaszcza przez ta surowosc, wiec sa to garazowe interpretacje kawalkow ktore wszyscy znali i kochali, zagrane o wiele agresywniej niz wczesniej, brzmi jak dobry przepis na debiutancki albumik bandy, chociaz preferuje ich pozniejsze plyty, to jednak here are the sonics sa obecnie najbardziej rozpoznawalnym kawalkiem vinyla bandy, ale znajda sie tam takze 4 orginalne traki, otwierajacy witch, psycho, boss hoss i strychnine, na plejke dorzuca openingowy trak, bo have love will travel juz bylo dodane wczesniej, no i w tym przypadku mozna posluchac sobie mono/stereo w zaleznosci od preferencji na spoti, sprawdzilem obie i niestety nie moge potwierdzic teori z byrdsowego albumu, bo mono brzmi w tym wypadku tragicznie, glownie przez dziwne ustawienia na glosnosci, podbicie na sluchawkach nie pomaga, bo jeszcze bardziej przez to rzucaja sie szumy, jakby nagrywane z kiepskiej jakosci vynyla i slyszac wszelakie trzaski, wiec w tym przypadku wersja stereo to musi byc jakis pozniejszy remaster, ktory jest pozbawony tych bolaczek
Loads of covers but they made them their own and I enjoyed it. Maybe there weren't enough songs to go round in 1965? 6/10
Charming, staple for the time period, but faster and a lot more screaming. Kinda repetitive and the poor quality of the screams kinda hurt my ears, but it did go on to inspire later punk, so I'll give credit where credit is due.
very retro beatles vibe. very banging sound. pretty sure they whitewashed black music though.
Proper OG rock and roll, recognised some tracks, one off Earthed 2. Some beach boys vibes but better. Feel-good
In Conclusione: Ho apprezzato la vena un po' punk e ruvida nonostante l'album fosse chiaramente indirizzato ad un contesto un po' festaiolo, forse non era una cosa originale dei The Sonics ma ho trovato curioso il fatto che evidentemente questa cosa di rendere più ruvido un genere "pop" si ripropone ciclicamente nella storia della musica. In ogni caso mi ha divertito, la formula è chiaramente sempre la stessa un po' swing blues ballabile, conoscevo "Good Golly Miss Molly" e forse la mia preferita è stata "Have Love Will Travel" (ma che significa?). All'inizio ero più esaltato (verso il 4) ma poi la struttura troppo ripetitiva dei pezzi m'ha fatto scendere al 3.
Energetic and not unusual. Surfing the wave of their music style. Didn't listen to the lyrics. Probably won't listen again.
È sempre divertente ascoltare questi album. Ma anche questa volta a un certo punto ho un po' sofferto il fatto che sembrasse non finire mai e che sia diventata una sorta di punizione. Sono combattuto perché per me sarebbe un 2.5.. Ok, ho provato a dare 2 ma mi è dispiaciuto quindi vado per 3.
Not really sure how to rate this. On the one hand, it's just a bunch of covers so who cares, but on the other hand there is a raw energy here that is palpable and impressive. They put their own subtle spin on the covers but at the same time there wasn't much difference between them and every other version of the songs I've ever heard. I probably won't listen again but I didn't hate it. I bet they would have been great to see live. "Strychnine" and "Have Love Will Travel" are great songs. "The Witch" & "Boss Hoss" grow on you.
Lots of raw energy with descent guitar and piano work laced throughout. Protopunk vocals and garage band style with some classic rock and roll riffs. Strong cover of good golly miss Molly too close out. Dirty robber, have love will travel, money, nighttime is the right time, good golly
Their original songs are quite good. Unfortunately there are only three of them on the album. 6/10
Fun album that exists somewhere in the space between classic 50s Rock n' Roll and early punk. Most of the songs are hard-edged covers of classic rock n' roll and the originals fit in pretty seamlessly (really liked "The Witch"). The recording quality is crap but the word that keeps coming to mind is fun. Solid 3.
I enjoyed the album for its rawness. A vital piece of music and rock history. The holiday piece at the end was just goofy. Supposedly the band is still active and touring.
Raw energy bundled inside poor quality recording. Sound like the Beatles in Hamburg which creates some interesting What If? scenarios to think about. Don’t forget that the Beatles’ earliest recordings also had lots of covers with a few originals.
This was a solid album. I liked it better than I thought I would, however I didn't enjoy all of the songs enough to put them into my library. My favourite songs were Do You Love Me, Have Love Will Travel and Night Time Is The Right Time. 3.5/5 stars.
What on earth is this? It's like the California games soundtrack with some guy screaming "wwwwwaaooooohhh!!" every few seconds over the top. 3/5 cause lol.
fast and punky. I liked it even if I prefer more famous versions of some of the songs.
Do you love this? (They can really move, ) Do you love this? (I'm in the groove.) Now do you love this? (Do you love this garage rock?)
I enjoyed listening to the raw sounds of this album. It's hard for me to go above a 3 though because 2/3 of the songs are covers and its not even 30 minutes long!
Cool proto-garage album. Was not expecting the horns, but they were nice. Interesting to see how punk and garage were influenced by this.
the screams every now and then not good when you have a headache- might need to listen again another time
Like the tunes, like the feel they bring to them, don't like that half the songs are covers.
The beginnings of garage rock. Heard of them but not heard the album. A lot of covers but a good rocker
Very surprised by this one. Clearly “ahead of its time.” Can definitely see the roots of punk here. Would give this another listen.
Très peu de personnes le savent, mais les Sonics sont les ainés d'une formidable famille musicale. Laissez moi vous faire un petit recapitulatif. Les Sonics sont les premiers de la famille a avoir vu le jour. Après de nombreuses années passées à écumer les salles de concert, les Sonics se sont décidé à procréer, ce qui nous a donné l'horrible groupe de Sonic Youth. Mais l'histoire ne s'arrête pas là, puisque quelques annés plus tard, les Sonic Youth eux-memes assureront leur descendance, grâce au single Dirty South de RIN. Où celle magnifique histoire va t'elle s'arrêter, seul l'avenir nous le dira.
Un peu à l'image des Razbitume par rapport aux Razmoket, le groupe Sonics raconte le passage à l'âge adulte des membres de la formation Sonic Youth et énumère grossièrement une partie des tracas associés à cette période de la vie. On s'en serait bien passé.
I don't know if I've heard the Sonics before. After listening to the album, I'm still not sure. The songs that sounded familiar to me from this album are familiar because I've heard other bands play those songs. None of the tracks stood out as a definitive example of the Sonics. I kept thinking about the early Beatles as I listened to this album. The album was okay, but nothing stood out to me enough to inspire a second listen.
Just some rambunctious rock n roll baby. The album is just so fuzzy that it became quite grating, and some parts actually made me cringe in discomfort. Not the songs’ fault, I think it just hadn’t been transferred to the digital format too well. But the tunes are there. 6/10
Raw and charismatic. I can see the obvious influence on punk. Important to hear but not much I'll come back to.
Wow. I guess I didn't realize that The Sonics were behind some of the more recognizable oldies that I know. The Beatles arrived into JFK airport in 1964, and with them brought a rock-n-roll sound that would influence generations of people (not to mention musicians). I imagine The Sonics - and their up beat, in your face music - at that same point in our country's history. And I wonder if the disgust by the older generations was as palpable, or even more so, than it was with the Beatles. Their sound is so loud that it frequently distorts the recording equipment being used - just a funny to think about this at the time they were part of.
I liked the energy that came off this album even if most of the songs are covers. You can really hear the influence they had on the black keys on "Have love will travel". Garage rock sound.
2/19/2022 Today's Album: "Here Are The Sonics" by The Sonics - This is a pretty classic 60's record. You get that classic 60s band feel from groups like the Beatles, but it almost feels like its infused with a lot of different musical genres, rather than the simple love songs they were doing back then. It feels like something you would hear in an old American diner, but with enough musical flare that it feels relevant today. That being said, the sounds are just really too outdated to casually enjoy today. It has it's place in history and it's not terrible on the ears, but the basic chord structures and fairly terrible production really date this album. Score: 5/10 inoffensive Highlights: N/A?
Early garage, lo-fi style. The Beatles did the covers much better though. Have love will travel is a top tune.
Let's get this out of the way: I'm rating this 3 stars just so that we have 4 different scores because that's how you have fun with numbers. I didn't love it though. It's tough to hear something that's essentially a covers album of tunes that are so well known in their original forms. I pretty much spent the duration thinking I'd prefer to be listening to the originals. But the stuff they wrote themselves was cool! "The VVitch" feels so gross, ha. I kinda love it. Sounds like it was recorded on rusty ass tuna cans. Alex, I couldn't quite tell if you were being sarcastic (because I'm American) but The Black Keys for sure covered "Have Love Will Travel" on one of their earlier albums. Which means The White Stripes most certainly did it sometime before that.
This album sounds like the Beach Boys meet Punk Rock. Also in true punk fashion it sounds like it was recorded on the cheapest mic they could find. For a collection of screamy covers it is not too bad of an album. I get where it was a influential sound to early Punk. "Strychnine" is my favorite track and it's an original so that's cool too.
Ahhh, some good old fashioned bare bones, badass garage rock. Sonics are cool as hell, punk before punk even existed. There is an undeniable edgy energy in these songs that is thrilling to hear. The best songs are of course their originals, although "Have Love Will Travel" is one the best songs on the album. The band excels when they lean into their grittiness, which is generally more pronounced in their own songs. Some of the covers are pretty weak by comparison, which is frequently the case when covering songs that were pretty perfect to begin with. The Beatles couldn't touch Chuck Berry, so the Sonics sure aren't going to either. But on the whole, the band's energy is on fire, and they are clearly having a blast playing these songs. Great fun. Fave Songs: Have Love Will Travel, Strychnine, Psycho, The Witch, Boss Hoss
05/04/2022 An early hybrid of rock, pop and punk from 1965. The garage sound quality make the whole think sound... bad. Lots of attitude in the lyrics and vocals!
Čudniji su nego što sam mislio, sviđa mi se to, samo eto, nije mi toliko dobro iako volim taj lo-fi štih.
These random 60’s albums brimful of covers are usually good so here goes… The album starts with one of it’s few originals the witch, I mean it’s a fitting opener instrumentally you can see how garage, punk and grunge groups get their influence from, for newcomers to 60’s music the best way to put it is like a seedier Beatles. Do you love me is a cover, I don’t know the original version but this is a very of it’s time early 60’s track with some good instrumentation for the time and while poppier than the first track in the grand scheme of things it’s fairly heavy. Their rendition of roll over Beethoven is okay the song works but just because roll over Beethoven is a good song and not anything else as the production on this one is so poor even for a record I was having production problems with. Boss hoss is an original an actually quite good 60’s jam with some nice sax work and decent lyrics. Dirty robber is another cover I know it’s not by him but to me it feels really Elvis-y eh it’s alright. Then is have love will travel a song that is a cover but I’am sure I recognise this version. But I also wouldn’t have said it was a 60’s song so what do I know. Great song though! Psycho is an original another great song and while it starts off side B it honestly flows really well from have love will travel which makes me think that an alternate tracklist may have made it better. Now you know what songs ware popular at the time if you’ve covered two songs that were covers on with the Beatles on the same album. I actually prefer this rendition of money ( that’s what I want) to the Beatles version and while I don’t know the original I bet it’s still better. Then is a slower cover and one I don’t know or like as much as the other covers I mean I have no issue with it it’s just not as special as the other cover’s. Now is night time is the right time another slow cover and while this doesn’t have great lyrics I think instrumentally it’s good showing some more verity in the bands sound. Now is the final original the penultimate track a great ball of energy strychnine a true hidden banger of the 60’s fusing all the sounds I would expect from that time. The album closes off with good golly miss molly a very good cover but with there being the much slower now is the night time I don’t see why it’s an album closer. Wow I really enjoyed that not a 5/5 but still really entertaining and a short burst of energy. Yeah there are duds and the sequencing can be a bit odd towards the end of each side and it’s really short so that’s why I’d give it a high 3/5!
6/18 OG Punksters, very dated. Standout Tracks: Dirty Robber, Have Love Will Travel, Strychnine
The good: love the use of natural amp distortion on the guitars and the vocals. Some nice blues riffs, drums are cool, covers are good. The bad: basic lyrics on original songs, sound is pretty generic even for the time. Liked the beach boys vibe earlier on but any unique sounds were abandoned later on. I'd love a count on how many screams are on this album. Got tired of them by the 3rd song. Conclusion: average album even for the time. There are a ton of r&b albums before this that are much more original and exciting. A lot of rock albums around the time are also much better The very bad: does this guy have to scream in every fucking song???
Thought this was pretty average even with my time and space context lens on. It's like a really shit version of everything that the Beatles and Kinks were already doing. Strychnine was kind of punk though. Also the cover photo makes them look like a bunch of college boy twats
Tijdloze rock, ruwe opname. In vergelijking met meer werk uit die tijd zeker wel anders omdat het zo rauw is. Maar blijft toch te voorzichtig om helemaal weg van te zijn.
Weissbrotiger Bürgerschreck, Avant-Punk aus der Garage, der einen Beat-Standard zu setzen wusste, den sich später u.a. The Hives zu eigen machen konnten. Es wird das Mikro gefressen und der Verstärker über seine Grenzen hinaus gepeitscht. Das zerrt mächtig am Tweed aber auch an den Nerven - knapp 30 Minuten fühlten sich selten so lang an. Erschöpfte 1.6
It's ok, can see it was probably quite groundbreaking. But their own stuff is so much better than the covers I don't know why there are so many
Pretty cool, but unsure about why _this_ particular album is one of 1000 I have to hear before I die. There's a lot of covers that don't do anything particularly inventive.
Weirdly familiar, guess that's because this inspired so much later garage rock and faster punk. Not always the most enjoyable thing to listen to, but can appreciate the influence.
Initially I thought three stars but reality is I’m unlikely to revisit or relisten however it was really decent garage rock n roll highlighting how 50s rock n roll was still being bastardised in the early 60s and not much had really moved on
The singer can really scream, the guitarist doesn’t so much play his instrument as he attacks it, and they’ve got a great sound. They had a hit single in the Northwest and rushed out an album of Rock and Roll covers to try and capitalise. And apparently I need to listen to it before I die. Ok. Good covers, lads.
Older garage rock sort of thing. Think Louie Louie. Simple. Apparently influential on punk/grunge stuff. Seattle band
There is just a hint of the beginning of punk rock in here I guess, but the rest of it is pretty middle of the road - exactly what I expected based on looking at the album cover. The screaming got real old after a bit. Still, some good songs.
A fun listen but I just can't give any real credibility to an album of (mostly) covers.
A functional if uninspiring 60's garage band delivering a stream of standard covers and a few originals. What set these types of bands apart from the crowd was their ability to write better songs than the standards e.g.The Rolling Stones and Them. The originals here don't do much.
Meh. A bunch of covers is not my idea of a must-listen album no matter how much wailing or energy they bring. Loved the first song The Witch (an original) and it made me think how that sound has come around again in the last 10 years with some of the heavy folk rock piano bands (Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats). Didn't love their other originals (they were okay) and couldn't give a rat's ass about their covers.
It was alright but considering most of the songs were covers, I feel like it's cheating.
Haven't heard of these guys before. Haven't missed much because of this. I felt like they were a "wanna start a rock band cuz" kinda ensemble.
Lo más interesante de este álbum es escuchar algo del estilo “the knak”, pero como 10 años antes de que surgiera The Knak. Otras canciones me sonaron al estilo de Lost Acapulco (surf), y veo cómo este álbum pudo ser una influencia o inspiración para otros grupos que vinieron después , pero en sí no se me hizo particularmente interesante. Los covers de Money y Popotitos no están mal, pero no tienen mucho que hacer contra las versiones en vivo de Jerry Lee.
Classic rock and roll with lots of energy, but apparently recorded using tin cans and strings, or maybe they just used the original masters as Frisbees. This is, without question, the worst-quality recording I've had on this list so far.
No idea why this is one of ’best albums ever’ - lo-fi garage rock. Fine, but all very similar.
This is the debut rock & roll album from the Sonics. Released in 1965, this album was influential to future punk rock music due to the energy of the band. It was a fun album to listen to, if only to get an idea of what rock music was like 57 years ago. I wouldn't normally listen to this album though, because rock music has evolved on from this early iteration.
Sounds like proto punk, loud, aggressive and not massively complex, and not especially good either, being the forerunner of a genre does not I feel qualify as an album you MUST listen to
This album is chock full of late night infomercials selling a catalog of music from the 60s. It is likely that nearly every song is recognized as being a hit for its time, but the viewer has no idea of who the band is, The Sonics. If Applebee's is a known eatery in your region, you may recognize their jingle as being as a play off "Do You Love Me" or if you ever watched the movie "Beethoven" of the early 90s canine sweetheart St. Bernard, "Roll over Beethoven" features heavily. Album-wise, the recording leaves much to be desired. The quality of AM radio in a digital age is a bit difficult to sit through even at just under a half an hour of music. The drums do seem to stand out quite a bit, rock elements popularized by Elvis exist, and the high energy of gospel/soul also make appearances. The Sonics definitely seemed to have put their heart into the performances and that is something to respect. The evolution of rock from this era to present certainly makes it sensical that The Sonics were likely a part of that, especially as an American band.
Het rockt en schuurt wel, maar zijn allemaal covers waarvan de originelen veelal beter zijn dan de uitvoering van the Sonics.
Dit zou volgens de docu van Dave Grohl de oer grungeband moeten zijn geweest. Dat hoor je er wel in terug, maar vind het toch minder spannend klinken dan de jaren negentig evenknieen.
Kyllä tää varmaan 50-luvulla pisti Sukat pyörimään jaloissa. Tänä päivänä, not so much.
A ton of energy here, but they do not sound better than The Contours on 'Do You Love Me' and that hobbles them right off the top. This kind of carries through. I'm bringing a lot of baggage into this, but these look like they're, maybe - maaaaaaybe - some rich kids who have some better than average talent? I don't know. I was not won over by any of these tracks.
Very similar to that early Beatles album we heard, in that it's a band of boys doing mostly rock and roll covers. The difference between this and that album (which came out two years prior) is that these guys have an edge, a fire to their sound that's really necessary for this style of rock and roll. The Beatles were a bit too posh for it. In other words, I like this more than that Beatles album (admittedly a very low bar). But it's still not anything challenging or impressive. Decent, but that's about it. Favorite tracks: Have Love Will Travel, Do You Love Me, Roll Over Beethoven. Album art: Band photo. Nothing else to say. Framing seems a little '80s. 2.5/5
Er jo historisk sound, men synes ikkje det er noe som eg nødvendigvis ville hørt så mye på i dag. En del av sangene er litt vel mye "pop rock n' roll" og kjedelige.
blodige ører pga. lydkvalitet. De hyla kunne de vært foruten. Sonic weapon burde det hett. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weapon
Not sure I understand the hype on this one. Pretty generic sounding bar band. I guess this came out around '65, sure doesn't sound innovative or forward looking. Sorry not drinking the Kool aid on this one. 1 🌟
First Listen: I hate bands that just have a bunch of other people's hits and don't do anything original with them. This is a 1/5 for me. This might have been great back in 1965, but now, it is just a compilation of other bands' hits. Nothing to see here folks. Next.
Somebody told this guy that he should do the James Brown "WAAAAOOOWW!!" scream as often as possible, and he took that advice to heart. At first it was mildly annoying, but by the end of the album (which feels much, much longer than 30 minutes), I was making a mental note to avoid this band in the future at all costs. Best track: Whichever one has the lowest WAAAOOOWW to time ratio. I'm not going to listen again to figure it out
I had to read some reviews to understand why this album might be included in a list of 1001 historically important albums. It seems that this is debatably a precursor to punk, a proposition that nonetheless seems to be disputed. Without this historical association I struggle to find any reason to elevate this album above the rest of the beatlesesque sounds of the mid 60s. If anything the shitty audio quality (which normally doesn't at all affect my judgement of an album) renders this album not only uninspiring, but almost unlistenable. 2/10
Can’t tell an album by the cover, I suppose. I was expecting some harmonies, maybe some sweetness, but these guys sound like a completely unskilled and totally overexcited cover band from some region not known for its music or art scenes … oh, wait, that’s what they were.
Not my style
Classic rock and roll recognised some of the tracks generally very enjoyable
The music is too loud for me