Reviews (page 2 of 9)
The quality of The Sonics sound recording quickly dates this album. They did a good job performing the many cover songs. I'll admit I don't mind the "Whaa" scream they used quite a bit. The old tech recording was interesting for a song or two, a whole album, not so much.
This sadly hit me in all the wrong ways. Garage rock is not my speed.
So many "waaaaaahhhhh". Very repetitive, some of the brass was fun, but I wasn't a fan of the other 95% of the components.
This is one of those many albums on the list where you had to have been there, at that time, the day it was released. For me, it just sounds like Rock n Roll covers. I understand that this led to many different genres like punk and grunge but I found the rock n roll standards played to be quite fierce themselves so not sure what was added by the Sonic's approach. I really liked the band penned tracks here so three stars.
It's good 60s garage rock. But most of the songs are covers, which I have mixed feelings on. Some of them are good but others just make me wish I was listening to the originals. The three original songs on here are still well played and fun. That said, I just kinda wonder what is so special about this one album that it's included on the list. I don't regret listening but I don't have a "Love it" reaction to the album.
Raw. Bit or miss for me
Actually unlistenable because of the ear-splitting "waaaaaah"s. Open your DAW, click the FX on the vocal track, find the distortion plugin, reduce gain by half. Fixed your album.
Baking the bricks that would become the house of punk rock
It’s fun that they’re PNW, and some good sounds. Otherwise I’ll just remember I listened 2 this 2 get indie creds
I think that their main goal was to test the integrity of the recording equipment.
A third the length of yesterdays album but easily twice as entertaining!! Yes it's mostly made up of covers but It bursts in with energy from the get-go, with its garage rock meets proto-punk stylings and although it seems a bit primitive now, it's easy to hear the influence that they had. It's a shame there's so many covers as all of their best songs are the handful of originals.
Interesting one. Some recognisable songs that others have covered and made more famous. But overall I just didn’t quite like the “sound” they made enough for this to be top tier.
I really liked some of this. Too many covers but short album. 3.25
High energy PNW American rock & roll. Paving the way for garage rock and American punk rock with their loud, speaker-blowing, full sound. It's got that classic early 50's sound that is heavily inspired by what the Beatles were doing at the same time across a country and an ocean, but it has a more aggressive, dare I say "American" sound. It's got blues influence, it's got experimental chord progressions, and it's got some promiscuous lyrics. Didn't know this but apparently 8 of the 11 tracks are covers. Doesn't matter, they did it in their own way with their own energy. Music is music. I didn't particularly enjoy the album, but I appreciate why it's on this list. Knowing that this was happening so far away and trying to provide people living on the American West Coast a little bit of that viral English Rock (albeit with a little more fire) at the same time as one of the most influential bands in the world; justifies its spot as an album you have to hear before you die. 5/10.
A real doozy. Influential, but more importantly a bridge over the gap of “Rock and Roll” and “Punk.” Takes the structure of rhythm and blues and makes it FUCKING RIP. I mean, we both see those 3 exclamation points after the title. They’re not “The Sonics,” they’re THE SONICS!!! The lead singer frequently will scream over lo-fi, thin, garagey instrumentals, in a way that often sounds like Jerry Lee Lewis, but cooler and better. Songs like “Psycho” really accentuate this, with its simple phrasing, but intense performance, and the howling of the song’s title. Additionally, the various insane guitar solos will not irregularly tear through the song itself, only for the song to recover just in time for another verse. Only big gripe is that it really stuck to the structure of this kind of song, and didn’t venture far outside of the sonic elements, but it really wouldn’t be so original without that. I don’t know. The 50s style is a double edged sword. Incredible album though. 9.0/10 DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: YES WHY: Quality, influence, and originality
08/11 Dont like it. Too much noise clipping and generic sounding 60s rock
A quick and wild ride, very fun. I liked Psycho best
I feel a bit conflicted about this album as there's really not huge amount of what I would consider originality to it. I mean, majority of the album is covers of particularly well-known songs and tbf they're done pretty well, they do make you feel engaged. It's clear there is musicality happening here. I just don't feel that the original songs stuck with me. It's not even that I dislike this album. I think it sounds pretty good. But I just don't agree with the idea of this being a standout album. I do also have to mention that there are a couple of the covers that I just did not enjoy as much as the better known version, for me in particular, that was 'Good Golly Miss Molly', which I felt really was not that strong. I don't know. I feel like I'm being overly harsh on this, but the more I think about it, the more I start to question why this is considered an important album, when the iconic elements are from other people outside of the band. Fav Track: Have Love Will Travel
3,2 Highlights: Boss Hoss, Have Love Will Travel
Of all the bands that are only on this book because of influence, this is one of the best one ive heard so far. Its really raw and original for its time. Its damn catchy too. Like many 60's album, its full of covers but I dont think its that bad. Their unique sound make it interesting.
Them dawgs was on that piano howling bruh. They do not sound how they look. Not really my thing tho.
Really fun
Even though over half of these are covers I liked the old sounding garage rock thing going on
Expected to not be a fan as assumed it’d just be another 60s cut and paste of The Beatles but this absolutely caught me off guard! A lot rougher and raunchier, like prototype punk stuff. Really enjoyed it.
So fun
Pretty fun I like the sonics they get a lot of mileage out of that guys scream but fun I like garage rock. I didn’t really feel like listening to this today, but I have some sonic records and they are a good time.
This reminds me of sandlot I fw it
Absolutely loved this album, so raw and energetic, plenty of covers, but “Have love, will travel”, what a banger. 29 min, 20 secs of Joy
Rock(-and-Roll)-Geschreie
Cool and grungy for '65, but it's meh
They must have been so mad when they heard The Beatles for the first time. WWWWWWOOWEWEWWWW
Has some pretty high highs, but the latter half of the album is generally middling imo
The moment I stepped out of my car to head into work, I was told I actually had to go cover a shift for a coworker at my old location. I listened to this album while pacing around the lobby, having just finished watching a Deep Discog Dive on the Beach Boys. I had my earbuds way too loud when I first hit play on this album, so the opening drum on The Witch scared the hell out of me. This album is absolutely not the sound I was expecting: it's like early surf rock blended with hard rock scratchy vocals and recorded on a potato. It's as if I unearthed this recording from ruins of a city, or like you told a punk band to play the Beach Boys. Every song here is buried in distortion, with even a lot of the covers getting blown out into something rough and explosive, and the screams are frequently so loud and uncontrolled that they peak the mic. I initially enjoyed this album, but still somewhat wrote parts of it off for being a little simple; however, on a relisten, the unique traits of these recordings only stood out more and more. Mileage may vary when it comes to the album as I've described it here, but for me, all of these traits make The Sonics rad as hell. Upon hearing the sound of this album, I instinctively assumed that its sound is partially what inspired the aesthetics of punk music to follow, and some light research conducted after listening to the album proved me right! Hearing such a clear example of punk sensibilities crop up in 1965 is absolutely astounding to me, and it's the exact kind of mind-bending realization I wanted to experience as a result of exploring this list. Highlights: Do You Love Me, Roll over Beethoven, Dirty Robber, Have Love Will Travel, Psycho, Money, Walkin' the Dog, Good Golly Miss Molly
It’s mostly covers, but I understand why it’s included in the list. It’s basically punk rocks meet the Beatles. It’s not something I put on all the time, but there are some great songs on here, and they put their own sound on the covers.
Matt Smith's Dr Who, and The Sonic(screwdriver)s. Is this a nerdy time travel joke? This is a brilliant record, way ahead of it's time. One of those that when I've finished listening and it played other tracks by the bank, I don't turn it off
Squeals like pig omg stop
Really into this one. Some solid songs!
Pretty good! More WAHHHHHs than a Disturbed album.
Yeah this is some sweet rock n roll.
Gritty
Bold creative decision to record vocals barefooted in a room full of lego. For real though, this is another one of those entries that is probably more important as historical context for music nerds as opposed to whether the music holds up or not. A lot of this is covers and the recording quality is pretty bad, but it is a lot of fun and as a bridge between 50's rock and punk it is also an interesting listen. I don't see it being one I return to a lot though.
#1019. I love the style and the sound, but the fact that most of this album is covers does lessen my appreciation for it somewhat. 3/5: solid
Juste avant que China et moi on commence à se fréquenter on est allé voir (par voies séparées évidemment) le seul show qu'ont fait les Sonics à Montréal / septembre 2015 au Fairmount. À noter que les pédales de distortion n'existaient pas à l'époque des albums studio. Le son de disto vient du crinquage des amplis au max, d'où l'effet sonore. Le début du rock garage / punk.
Proposition "punk" intéressante. Version de roll over beethoven quasiment copy paste de celle des beatles mais avec la disto boostée (tellement que la console semble ne plus la prendre et la bloquer dans les hautes fréquences). Ça se veut une douce moquerie j'imagine. Alors que les Beatles en 1965 s'en allaient vers Rubber Soul et la suite qu'on connait, on a ici une route qui nous mène vers les Stooges.
Proto-proto-punk? Ça me parle!
this album rules i like when the guy screams at me
I can understand how this could be seen as innovative, and it earns its place on the list, but I did not personally enjoy this one too much. The only one that stuck out was that song that's in every third British advert.
Can hear why it's important and had fun listening to it but had the same issue as Little Richard where everything it inspired is more what I want to listen to
A nearly full album of cover songs. That automatically limits my rating to a max of 3. The originals they had were alright. Probably pretty good for the era.
That was just a bunch of bad covers poorly recorded. I could see how these guys would have been a lot of fun to see live back in the day, and props to them for being influential, but this is not a good album.
I appreciate the . . . edge. But the covers aren’t, well, essential versions of these songs. At all. I do like “The Witch.” 2.5?
!!!what the fuck is this!!! oh it’s creepy proto punk type shit with a lot of screaming. that explains things. 3/5
‘Here Are the Sonics’ is the debut album by American garage rock band The Sonics, released in 1965. It features original tracks such as “The Witch” (a minor regional hit), “Psycho”, “Boss Hoss” and “Strychnine”, as well as covers of rock ’n’ roll and R&B classics, including a very raw version of the Beatles’ “Money”. It's fascinating how many bands remained virtually unknown in the underground scene at the time, only to be discovered by later generations. In a sense, The Sonics anticipated musical styles that would not emerge for another 10–20 years: punk and grunge. It's no surprise that Kurt Cobain was a fan of their music. As someone with little time for grunge and punk, I find this album intriguing in that it shows that the 1960s were much wilder and more diverse than one might assume. However, snotty rock ’n’ roll with a punk attitude ultimately proves too simplistic to entertain me in the long run.
I'm glad I missed this when I was a kid. But, thinking back, I did listen to a lot of crap music in those days. It sure sounds lame now.
Woaaaaaaah! The Witch! This song alone… not a huge fan of covers but they have such a good sound.
I didn't want to like this but it's a good listen. A nice harsher take on late 60s rock. Nothing crazy and a few too many covers
Surprisingly HARD 60s rock featuring a few genuinely great originals and a whole lot of covers, which is par for the course for the era. Going through this daily project, it's fascinating to unearth a record from 1965 that sounds this aggressively lo-fi and blown-out. The sheer primal energy of the band is infectious, between the frantic drumming, the blaring sax, and Gerry Roslie’s absolutely unhinged, throat-shredding screams, they play with a reckless abandon that makes it completely obvious why they're cited as the godfathers of garage rock and punk. While originals like "The Witch" and "Strychnine" are absolute standouts with a surprisingly dark, menacing swagger, the heavy reliance on standard rock and R&B covers does drag it down just a bit for me. A lot of them feel like inferior versions of songs the Beatles or Chuck Berry already perfected, just played with the amps pushed to the absolute limit. Still, even with the muddy, claustrophobic production and the relentless barrage of shrieks, it's a wildly fun, sub-30-minute burst of unpretentious rock 'n' roll that hits like a punch in the face.
Too many covers for a 1001 album. Sound far more 50s than 60s.
Sometimes they are really groovin and sometimes it's just yelling and ear wrenching noise
I love the way this album was described by GPT I'm excited for it! The Witch is great! Imagine hearing this in '65. I like the scratchy sound and the energy behind the vocals. Do You Love Me.. were they the first ones to do that song? I thought it was the Beatles. I guess the original artist for that one was The Contours. Roll Over Beethoven is on this album to, and I'm pretty sure someone else did that one first too. Yeah Chuck Berry. BUT The Beatles did do both those songs. Have Love Will Travel is a good one. Interesting title though. Man I'm really lovin the dirty sound to this! Money! I've heard this before. But not from these guys. Strychnine is awesome too! What a great album! 5 stars
Ten versions of the same shitty song
Zoals de beschrijving zegt, zou dit inderdaad een bandje kunnen zijn dat de richting heeft aangegeven voor de engelse punkmuziek. Het is voor mij vlees nog vis, dus allemaal net niks. **
Like a more gritty early The Beatles. I like it, even though there are mostly covers. Strychnine is the standout, but all their originals are good, and the covers are energetic. Nice discovery!
9/10 - might relisten
The music wasn't bad, but the recording quality is so terrible it sounds like they were recorded in a tin can. I realize that that is part of the appeal for those who like this album. Even though I did not particularly enjoy this album, I do respect the Hell out of it and how ahead of the curve it was. If I did not look at the release year then I would never have guessed this came out in 1965. Won't be revisting this, but jt was interesting to for it's impact on several music genres. Favorite Track - Have Love Will Travel Least Favorite Track - Strychnine ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Normally I love this raggedy, edge-of-control type stuff, but I think this album would benefit from a little restraint. Or at least some variety (though I suppose one could argue you get this from Night Time is the Right Time). It's balls-to-the-wall the whole time without really being that intense, so it's kind of exhausting. I love the energy. I want to see this band live. But I also need just a little something else to make this album listening experience a little more rewarding. I want to love it, but instead I just respect it. Give me two songs at a time, not the whole album. Ends really strong, though. Addendum: I listened to it again while driving in the car and it was easier to manage the assault, but the claims remain. I wonder what this would sound like if it had a better recording - would it lose something that the fuzz and grain gives it? Or would it be the same energy, just more attached?
The more I listened to this the more I liked it. Loads of good old fashioned rock n roll energy
Odd choice this, appears to be a best of including mostly covers. Fine I guess
Worth a buy just for Strychnine. Solid little album
Likes this. Familiar with ‘Have Love Will Travel’ from watching TV at some point in the last decade.
tunes on this
fun
Hearing something as heavy and crunchy as this as early as 1965 is certainly a treat! Great lineup of covers and originals, with a penchant for going as raw as the time period allowed.
Kinda fun, like a very obvious 60s band with ancient recording equipment just rocking out in their garage. But it’s kinda hard to rate an album highly when a majority of the album is other people’s work but done worse.
Even as an enemy of 60s rock and punk/noise rock, I found this to be a fun album. These guys' schtick is bad equipment and yelling WAOUUUU from time to time. That's it; that's all the special sauce they needed to distinguish themselves from the usual 60s fare, and to influence a generation of musicians down the line. Standouts: The Witch • Do You Love Me • Good Golly Miss Molly
This was not for me. It seemed like their whole schtick was going WAOWWWW over other people's songs and that got a little old, even after only 90 minutes.
..
I’ve heard this before and I own it. The Sonics are one of the few bands of the early 60s who did covers of rock n roll and R&B songs by black artists that were just as good as the originals and had their own great interpretations of them to make them their own, like the polar opposite of Pat Boone. These mix in perfectly with their originals which are also great and nothing sounds out of place. This is recorded the way I like to hear rock music, all blown out and dirty and with a live sound that captures the energy of the band. Maybe it’s a little too blown out because it sounds like every monitor is pinning out through most of the songs. It’s short, sweet, and to the point, and it rocks out the entire time.
This felt like having a bunch of screaming Beatles wannabes yelling at me for an hour. I didn't enjoy it at all and was glad when it was over. One star.
6/10
This is a fun and boppy surfer rock album that definitely has its place in music history. I enjoyed it quite a bit despite the lack of depth to most of their songs. What amuses me is that this would have been considered shocking at the time, but now just comes across as quaint.
Overall enjoyable. Very special for the time, not so special today. For the time this is very impressive, but I don't think it holds up as well as some say. The drumming is great! Only thing is it's mostly covers which is a little boring. tf is 'Walkin' the dog'? had me laughing.. I saved Have Love Will Travel, great song!
This is really properly a 2.5. It's fun, don't get me wrong, and "Strychnine" is one of my most favorite songs, but the album as a whole is a little thin and same-sounding. Still! I owned it, and I mostly loved it, though I'd really just take a few tracks as genuine keepers.
Bangers only🗣️
Definitely a worthwhile listen from a historical/cultural perspective. The rough overdriven sound as some appeal, but overall its an interesting historical artifact rather than something I'd come back to again and again.
you may enjoy this type of music but this band is a total rip off from start to finish. the look, all the songs, the sounds, even the album cover complete rip offs and no need to have this album on the list when you could put (and probably have put) the originals. a true lazy one-star effort from the band to the list maker for including them.
uh. nije lako bilo preslušati, premda traje manje od pola sata. početna pjesma "witch" iznenađujuće zanimljiva, no kasnije ide ka goremu nažalost. ne zvuči sve skupa baš dobro. pravo pitanje nije zašto ovaj album nije toliko cijenjen, već zašto albumi kao što su "with the beatles" i "a hard day's night", podjednako loši, dosadni i naporni kao i ovaj, dobivaju toliko pažnje. dvojka
No. If I have to listen to this much screaming for no reason I want James Brown. Or at least Screaming Jay Hawkins. This is just…. Idk. Don’t care that this influenced later garage bands. This needs to stay in the crate. 1 Boolean: false
This is pretty good (I wish we could give half stars). Whilst I recognise it is great garage rock, and probably a pioneer of the format, I think I am spoiled with so much that came after it so it didn’t come across as a classic for me
This is a 2.7 (kinda close to 3) but still a cool garage rock group
There's a certain charm to the raw energy and the album captures the garage band level of performances. If they were playing at a house party and the beer was flowing it would have made for a fun and enjoyable night. 2.5/5
Оце вже цікаво) Гарний гурт.
60's rock that sounds like 50's rock.
The album is good but it gets a bit repetitive for my taste after a few songs. Overall I think it’s still worth listening to.
I really loved this, though the shrieking/screaming happens too frequently. I knew a surprising number of these songs, including a few from The Beatles.
pretty fun and energetic, especially for the time. the recording style is explicable and probably a fine stylistic choice, but i think it has consequences later on with other groups. they run out of songs right as it's about to go from hype to tedious, which is good timing
Never heard of them and no clue what to expect. The Witch was cool, but I nothing beyond that. But as the album progressed I got more and more into it, loving their interpretation of songs I’ve heard hundreds (or more) of times. By the end I had a very good appreciation for what they brought to rock music at that time and led the way for less refined music to come. Standouts were Have Love Will Travel, Psycho, and Strychnine.
A short album from 1965! This should be fun! Yey! That was fun. My God the sound quality is awful. But these guys sound like they are having fun in their Beatles cosplay (not just the songs themselves, but the haircuts too, very reminiscent of their early stuff). Do You Love Me's great. Oh, I didn't know how on the nose I was with that Beatles comparison They sounds especially awful in their cover of Roll Over Beethoven. I'll give them credit where it's due, they are much louder than most other groups from the same time. Seriously, these songs are fun and all, but the way they are recorded actively hurts my ears, and therefore limits my enjoyment of them. Psycho's listenable! Money's fun, loud, and relatable. Walkin' the Dog... I fucking love this dumb fucking song. Possibly my favourite so far. Why does this album end with a cover of Good Golly Miss Molly? What the hell, why not. This was honestly a very surprising album, and not musically, as the songs stayed withing the same realm the whole way through. But from the unexpected covers to the unexpected song subjects... this was fun!
Mostly standard Rock and Roll sngs. Could have been any of the bands from this era.
Points for proto-punk, but this feels more like an academic listen just to understand that influence more than something that’s on the list because people genuinely enjoy it. I probably would have enjoyed it if I was around in 1965 though.
Not so bad
Middle of road
coming back to say thank you Stu, for having the words I lacked to describe the Sonics
Lots o’ flavors in this one. Kinda like the Everything Bagel topping. It’s got crunch. It can dress up basics like bread.
Raucous fun. Harmless to good. They succeed at the age old pursuit of capturing a live energy in studio and making it feel vibrant. I get the influence - and influences. They provide an attitudinal and sonic (if you will - and i just did) roadmap that would be followed by future artists. Sometimes it's not what you do but how you did it.
!!!The amount of people on this site who get a whiff of anything remotely punk rock and rev up their fingers for a snarky review is deeply depressing. Is the point of this sort of challenge not to test yourself? You're not going to get laid because of how much of a smart-ass you are on 1001albumsgenerator.com, come down off the cross. With that said, even I can admit that he goes "WAAAAZAAAOOooow" a bit too often. But goddamn, is the machine well oiled. This is probably the best case scenario for a teenage garage rock band, it's teetering on the ledge that Iggy and The Velvets would plummet down a few years later. Don't listen to this because it's your favorite bands favorite band, listen to it because it kicks ass!!!
Not bad
Enjoyed the sound, but also thought the original versions of the covers were superior
It was ok, nothing special. Covers were fine.
A dozen songs in under half an hour. The covers are a bit stronger than the original songs, but enjoyed this
ok
This album might be influential on future punk and grunge bands from a sound perspective but I didn't enjoy it all. The songs are mostly bad covers of songs by Chuck Berry, Little Richard and others performed similarly. The "influential" screaming became annoying.
The performances are incredibly ahead of their time and the song structures are downright retro (a given, at least because of the choice of covers). This mixture creates a very unique and enjoyable sound, which does have its limits, but it's still very impressive. It's definitely one of those records I appreciate more than actually love, but the ride is short and sweet, with some great highlights along the way. Favourite track: The Witch
Garage band covers. Don't think this one belongs on the 1001 list.
Pre-punk and rock and roll legends, I'm very glad I got to see them one time, DIY made record, the sound is not the best, but it was what could handle it. Super vocals, very energetic.
Medium
Pretty basic 60s garage rock.
es cort Please Please me 2 años después pero grabado con un ano
Meh.
A bunch of classics, but they're all covers.
- I might just be a chud but the recording quality is so bad that my ears were hurting and I could barely finish it - I'm sorry I know it was intentional but I just can't
100/10 peak
What a great discovery today. Never heard of this. After the first song I was not sold one way or the other. But as the album played and just started loving it. Raw and powerful. Like an American version of the early Kinks. Added to my listening collection. Definitely hear its influence in a lot of music I love.
Really good! It has a bunch of great songs on it! It is honestly one of the best rock n roll albums I've ever heard. I can definitely hear the influence that The Beatles had on them. Truly amazing!
Rougher than the Beatles, not as blues-y as the Rolling Stones, not as lyrically complex as the Kinks, and more "garage" than anything that seems to have come before it. There are decent originals and very competent covers of popular songs. How much different from other 60's bands that were out at the time? I'm guessing it's a bit louder with a bit more yelling, so perhaps that merits placement in this list. They were also an influence on Creedence Clearwater Revival, as this album covers two songs that CCR eventually also covered. It feels like CCR brought the "swamp" to the garage sound. This is another example of an artist that is in the book just because they influenced the sound of superior bands. My favorite songs: The Witch Dirty Robber Have Love Will Travel Money Strychnine
i like that this had a still very identifiable classic 60s sound but it was a bit harder…you could really hear the foreshadowing of punk (hence proto-punk). it’s not particularly my style or anything i’d reach for, but i liked hearing this building block in rock history.
god the random stupid screaming
It is not bad and I understand that this album was essential to later punk and grunge bands, but too much cover song for me.
I can kinda hear how they might have influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced maybe some of the lesser known punk bands... But mostly this was just slightly louder 60s pop stuff...
Cool riffs from time to time and some classic songs but ended up just being repetitive screaming of the word "wow" for 30 minutes
I've heard the name "The Sonics" - but only because in the song called "Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem, he mentions them. It's a song that sort of makes fun of pompous people (including himself) that claim they know all the best and coolest music and knew about it before everyone else - cementing their edgy cred. So, I'm curious what this is all about. I had no idea they were from the 60s - so that's a surprise in itself. Thoughts after listening 3 times... This goes by pretty fast, as it's only 29 minutes long. I wasn't expecting so many covers. It's all pretty simple and fun with good energy. I ended up liking 3 of the originals ("The Witch", "Psycho", "Strychnine") and 2 of the covers which I haven't heard before ("Have Love Will Travel", "Walking the Dog"). I can see their influence on "garage rock" - but I could say the same thing for early Beatles and the Kinks and the Stones (and I'm sure many others) before this. They were even covering some of the same songs from the 50s as those groups did when they started. So, I'm not sure why these guys get singled out. Either way - I just got to add 5 "new to me" songs to my Spotify library and I now know what James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is talking about. Liked songs on Spotify: 5/12 Rating: 2/5
This is the second time in a week I've got an album full of covers. Cool sounds, lovely raw production and playing styles, love the proto punk vibe, but not overly fussed to hear the same old staples in yet another genre. 1,000,000 songs in under 30mins is the story of efficiency I can get behind though.
Mehh
Sometime around the halfway point things picked up - I found their energy caught my ears really well. Prior to that, things sounded quite dated. I'd rather give this a 3.5 if possible; I feel better with it being a 3 rather than a 4.
That was some massive energy
A remarkably horrible vocal.
I'd never heard of this group before. A good collection of covers and some good original tunes. I don't think I preferred their version of the songs over the original artist, but it was a fun listen overall.
Here we find something that definitely sounds like a prototype for the entire punk music genre. It's kind of interesting to hear popular tracks from other artists ground up and growled out along with punchy guitars, and the music exists in this strange in-between state between there and the more typical 1960s rock sound. What results is an interesting contrast, but it is almost more interesting to me for its place in the development of music than for its actual content. Favorite track: "Strychnine," maybe
What a surprise that was! I was not optimistic based on the cover art, but that was a great time. It's the bones of all of the things I like. I definitely want more.
WOWWWWWWWWW!!!!! WAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! ROCK AND ROLLLLLLLLL!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! (5/10, 2/5 on this scale)
The Witch 3.6 Do You Love Me 4 Roll Over Beethoven 3.6 Boss Hoss 3.4 Dirty Robber 3 Have Love Will Travel 4 Psycho 4 Money (That's What I Want) 3.7 Walking the Dog 3.5 Night Time Is the Right Time 3.5 Strychnine 4 Good Golly Miss Molly 3.4 Score: 3.641666667
Here are the Sonics: Earlier this year I splurged and bought a really solid set of headphones. Music that sounded good before sounds even better with these puppies. So it’s with that evidence that I can say: this album is mixed as bad as any album I’ve heard. The singer’s voice is peaking for at least half the album, and I can’t listen to it without that grating against me. And that’s a shame, because for a mid 60’s album this is brimming with energy and recklessness. It would be fun to listen to but I can’t get over the production errors. I’ll throw a 4.5/10 its way today.
So many hits, this is great!
Musically it was ok, but the vocals were off-putting.
Ne mogu imati visoko mišljenje o albumu na kojem je 80% covera i to stvari koje teško mogu zvučati bolje nego u originalu. Dosta loše. 1/5, 2/10
Pleasantly surprised with this album. Not the biggest Rock and Roll fan, but this was really good. Some classic songs, very familiar stuff, and a couple of songs that almost could have been modern in how they were played. Overall, a decent album, and totally understand why this is on the list.
Sounds like Beach Boys meets the Stooges.
Has a fair share of songs I wouldn’t replay but others that sound great. I’m starting to notice 80+% of my scores are a 6/10.
WWWWAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!1 Kinda lo-fi American Beatles? Sorta. Not terrible.
Es imposible no comparar las canciones con las versiones de los Beatles, pero siento que igual no están tan mal
AMO!! Me han recordado a una mezcla entre los beatles y the animals. Adoroooooo
A decent cover band, but not really bringing much in their own
7.5
They sure do like saying WAOW!
How the hell had I never heard of these guys before? They sound dirtier than the Stones and the Kinks combined! I'm familiar with some of the songs through other artists, but the versions contained here are impressively visceral for the mid-60s. 5 stars, no discussion.
Great performance but as it's a lot of covers it can only be a 3.
Nice! Fun proto-punk, this is garage rock at its best!
Eh, whatever. I don't mind music like this sometimes, but other artists have done it better. Too much screaming.
Straight ahead mid-60’s rock & roll. It’s not trying to be anything other than what you hear. No fancy harmonies or complex Melodie’s… just kick ass rock. Loved it.
I liked it. Not to much to say about it other than the random screaming being a little off putting. Reminds me of the Beach Boys.
Sunday May 31st, 2026. The album is very funky with a good beat, whoever is on drums does great. I don't mind the vocals but they aren't my favorite. It was tuff when they said "hey diddle diddle I will play my fiddle." The lead singer does scream a little too much. 6.5/10.
Rounded up from 3.5
Nooit van gehoord. Garage rock schijnt. Dat belooft veel goeds Dit is echt banger na banger constant vol gas. Niet normaal. Eerste indruk: dood en doodziek. Bijna karikaturale rock and roll maar het gaat echt hard. En duurt met een halfuur niet te lang. Zit ook subtiel toch nog wat variatie van hard naar tering hard. En kaolo vette sax. Dikke vijf sterren
Good solid garage punk from the 60s. Great songs and energy. 12 songs 29 minutes thats what i like. A nice refreshing change from some of the pompous jazz records iv had to listdn to.
This record was undeniably influential and important, and is a favorite of many artists I love. I hear why and I get it but I found this to be a very tough listen. The recording is, uh, not good. It sounds as if the microphone was on the other side of a wall and recorded whatever bled through. Fortunately, they played real loud. Anyway, these guys are one of the OG “garage bands” and they bring a visceral punky energy to a lot of 60s covers that were done a thousand times. It’s hard to appreciate it because it's just such a part of rock music now that it just sounds like a barely competent high school band playing covers with a screeching banshee of a lead singer. So here we have a record that should be heard but it's not that enjoyable when you do hear it. One of many examples where what came after was much better but maybe wouldn't have happened without this
You know I love 60s early rock and roll! A fun listen
I'm sure in 1965 this scared the shit out of some people. I mean, this predates the Byrds even, who I tend to consider one of the biggest turning-point artists of the 60s, but here we are with this sort of elevated rock energy that brings out some grit in what are now considered rock'n'roll standards...and it falls a bit flat for me. I get the influence, I hear how this predates a lot of important stuff, but if I want to hear updated Berry or Little Richard worship (of which there is almost too much here), I'm listening to the Dead or Bruce Springsteen.
This one is interesting to me. Why is it here on this list? Up until now even the stuff I completely haven't heard of before has had some kind of instant, "oh, that's why that's here," to it. But this? This is mostly cover tunes of early Rock'n'Roll and R&B, very credibly and energetically played. The originals hang pretty well with the covers, even. And I get that in the mid-sixties plenty of bands released albums like this one. But those ones aren't on this list and this one is. Is it because we're not getting the tunes that are covered? It ain't because this band "made it." After doing the requisite reading, it's because this was an influential album to a lot of people who did later make it. Which is fine. But you probably had to be in the right place at the right time for it to have that effect. Would have been way more fun to find out that this was the band that inspired The Commitments. I could absolutely see that lead singer being as problematic as he is talented. And the band as tenuous as they are tight. I'd probably put this on again in the right circumstances.
It’s hard not to compare this to the Beatles as there are quite a few tracks on here that the Beatles also sang on their earlier records. I like they have put their own spin on it. The record reminded me of the soundtrack to an early 90’s Beatles film, Backbeat. That was also slightly edgier and heavier than the early Beatles originals. I also enjoyed some of their original stuff on here too. I liked it overall.
Take a shot every time Gerry Roslie yells "WAAAOOOOWWWW", you'll fuckin die lol. Good ol' fashioned garage rock that feels hugely influenced by Beatlemania, however I think it's safe to say that by '65 the fab four were quite sick of this specific blend of safe, radio-friendly rock n roll (for good reason... it's entirely surface level). While there might not be much to it, it's still a fun, high-energy rock record which helped lay the groundwork for the punk, post-punk and grunge sounds that would appear in the coming decades.
Roll Over Beethoven, The Sonics are Walkin’ the Dog with this album.
The singing parts are nice, but not the shouting parts 😅
Band could've been interesting but this album had way too many covers that added nothing to original
The Sonics
An interesting collection of songs. Better than the what the Beatles were doing in 1965. Still a lot of covers
Not for me
I didn't think I was familiar with the Sonics, but I've definitely heard "Have Love Will Travel" and "Psycho" before. When the album started I was not expecting that voice to come from any of the guys pictured on the album cover. Absolutely none of them look like they'd sound like that.
Fun.
Short, sweet, loads of famous songs. Good
I get why this is on the list, but not really to my taste. (Definitely grateful that is was a short album, though.) This would be more of a 2.5 stars if I could give it.
I get how this was seen as the blueprint for future developments in garage rock, but this is just not my bag at all. Sounds like absolute arse and all of the songs are variations on the same theme.
Fun album but I'd rather listen to The Beatles or Little Richard instead.
Respect the influence but very plainz and afterall this app is for rating music over influence
Just fantastic proto garage rock. Boss Hoss and Have Love are personal favourites.
Ok
There’s a scene in Inside Llewyn Davis where the main character realizes that he just doesn’t have what it takes to make it in the music business. He’s not bad, and in some ways pretty good, but just not there. This album is like that, seems too early, too beach boys and Beatles clone, but not enough rock yet. I can’t listen to this without thinking what’s it’s stealing off and what it’s preparing to help create but isn’t quite there. The first song is good and then the rest of it is more of the same with similar lyrics.
I can appreciate the obvious influence this would have on later music but it doesn't mean I enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy the 200 "WHAAAAAAAAA" screamed into the microphone. At least this is poorly recorded. This isn't bad and it has its place in the progression of garage rock/punk but I don't think anyone that's not REALLY into those genres and wants to go for a deep dive needs to hear this before they die.
This is a fun one, love the raw sound on it.
Classic fuzz and primal screams. Yes, please.
i really could not tell any difference between the songs. it was 12 bar blues all over again and neither the voice nor the words compelled me to look up the lyrics to understand the song changes.
Rock'n'Roll und Punk
I already owned this album. Half of it sounds like it was recorded in a garbage can, multiple songs are covers, but I love the balls-out energy of the band. The Witch is a playlist staple for me.
Hard to take this band seriously; pretty lame covers of early rock and roll from Chuck Berry and other trailblazers coopted by a white garage band. Apparently the only lasting effect of the album is the "garage band" sound, which I'm told was influential. Can't stand the harsh screams of the lead singer; made me laugh out loud.
Good enough for The Cramps. Good enough for The Fall. Good enough for me.
Not exactly my jam but quite o.k. Maybe a bit old-fashioned and too many cover-versions. 2,5
very cool little record, at its best when vocalist Gerry Roslie is harnessing a kind of sweaty, possessed soul-man energy, actually using his lovely, purposeful voice instead of screaming his head off. Do You Love Me is the best example of this, and the other songs that revolve around love and sex are similar highlights - it just fits the steamroller sound of the band, panting, chasing, vibrating, a 1965 incarnation of Conner O'Malley's guy who's so horny his stomach hurts however, i've said it about plenty records before and i'll say it about plenty after, every song here just sounds the same. you really only need one. it's a fun song, maybe even a great song in a primal, essential rock'n'roll way, but you could just pick one off the tracklist and maybe come away more satisfied than if you'd listened to essentially the same song 12 times. this widens the gap between good and great, but it's cool to see how the seeds of punk were planted so early, and i bet these guys blew the fucking roof off live
Old school rock n roll with a lo-fi garage sound. Some filthy distorted guitars on some otherwise classic rock n roll tunes. A mix of originals and covers, but I quite enjoyed on the whole. A low 4.
I had a great time with this album. Bangers the lot of them.
2/5 average
Kreativlose White Guy Rock'n Roll Band die auf Ideen von anderen basieren Nr. 485 Ich weiß dass es als "Protopunk" Album gilt dies finde ich aber komplett insane nur weil es bissle rough Aufnahmen hat. Naja in dieser 1001 Album Liste ist zwar weder Chucky Berry noch Richard Berry noch Rufus Thomas aber wenigstens haben wir Cover Songs..
Thank you for giving me the Sonics.
The Sonics are such an important piece of garage rock and Lo-fi history. I love myself some gritty garage rock sound. In the early 2000’s it consumed my listening habits. From the Black Lips, King Khan & BBQ, Ty Segall, Harlem, Strange Boys, I loved it. The Sonics were innovators and for that I respect the shit out of them. They also influenced the White Stripes and The Stooges, Nirvana, just an absolute plethora of amazing acts. They did it all by sounding so laid back and casual about it, such flawless messiness, fantastic shrieks and wails. You can’t fake this, they just had the coolness and they nailed it. 4 stars
The Witch Boss Hoss Have Love Will Travel Psycho Strychnine
A good showing of some proper garage sound
A lot better than I thought it would be. Wasn't expecting to know as many songs as I did. It's loud, raw and punchy. Not bad given I generally dislike most of what the 60s gave us.
I get this is big for garage rock, but it’s mostly covers.
Energic rock and roll, due to their timing I'd probably be listening to them if I was a teenager at the time. I'm not, so that's a 5/10
Seems like an alright sort of cover band. Nothing really stood out for me, it was just okay.
The sax player's really carrying this one. The album feels pretty run-of-the-mill for mid-60s music. There's even the mid-60s staple about how the singer's almost-definitely underaged lover left them. The rest of the songs range from the usual 60s garage rock stuff like women leaving them and whatnot to an admittedly pretty funny song about drinking rat poison, all to the same rock and roll beat. This apparently influenced punk music, but I don't really hear how. If it's because the guy yells, then I guess you could say Little Richard also influenced punk music. Maybe the future punks of the 70s and 80s should've brought some saxes if this album influenced them, because if there's one thing this album isn't lacking, it's saxophone bonus points.
I can mash potatoes, I can do the twist 🗣🗣‼️‼️ Fave track: Have Love Will Travel
No thanks. 1.5/5
So funny to imagine these guys sucking and people hating them... and then they become a major influence on punk and garage bands... just to come back around to now where everyone (on this list) thinks they suck. History is such a funny thing.
There go the Sonics!!!!! never to grace my turntable again OK for a garage band but a host of covers drags the score right down
You know what? This is fun. And I can see how so many people were inspired.
Too many unoriginal covers to call this a great album.
One of the most interesting parts of this 1001 album challenge is being exposed to more music from the 60s, and understanding how much of the pop culture of the times was stolen from black artists. It's not even imitation being flattery, it's downright minstrelsy lol. There is no part of this album that couldn't have been done by Little Richard, or another Motown artist. One might say, listen to this music without bias! Without context! They didn't even make it without black context - half of these songs were literally written by black artists. It's actually very important for these types of albums to be on this list; so music fans hear how toothless and bland music can be when in the wrong hands. Just hootin and hollerin and performing for no real reason.
Very much alike the beach boys! Respect for having a dirtier and distorted sound tho!
Honestly, this comes across more like a rough rock ’n’ roll record than a proto-punk landmark. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘴 has that blown-out, lo-fi sound, but to me it often feels more amateurish than deliberately raw. I get why people point to it as an influence, but it tends to wear thin over a full album. There’s energy here, just not enough to make it consistently engaging.
This album is obviously very old, but I like the fact that the recordings sounds very 'static'. It makes it sound more intimate, as if you are listening to it on an old radio. Nostalgia.
4*
Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this while imagining how much it probably scared the squares back in the 60s.
3.75. This rocks way harder than I was expecting. It’s mostly covers, but they’re pretty fun.
This was way heavier than I was expecting an album from 1965 to be. I dug it.
2.25 - This is fine, but I don't get how this album is so important when it's mostly covers of well known songs.
Great quick, concise record.
Far too many covers on this to be classed as their album. It's getting a 1
Fun!
Hur har jag missat detta. Dom är tio år före sin tid! Föregångare till att slammer i världen. Hives från sextiotalet. Enda invändningen är att de mest spelar gamla rock'n'roll klassiker istället för eget material. Stark fyra.
The cover - all chillin' The tunes - all grillin' These boys absolutely cooked here, super fun high energy listen! I knew their cover of "Have Love Will Travel"
Solid tunes here. The covers are a bit odd after hearing other versions for so long, but they're not unwelcome.
This fucking ROCKS! Pure garage power and attitude. More music should sound like this.
Solid early garage rock. You can hear the beginnings of the Stooges and punk in their sound.
Jedes Lied klingt gleich und auf einmal schreit jemand
Old school psych, it was ok
Here were, indeed, The Sonics. Not only The Sonics however as most of the tracks (and all the best ones) are covers. Their version of Have Love Will Travel is great though.
solid album i would say
Gear: Grado Hemp Artwork: ‼️👔‼️ Production: 🎧🛠️🤔 Music: 🧾📚👎 Rating: ⁉️(⁉️)/5
12 songs, 29 minutes. rocks for 1965
Harder older rock. Like more intense Beach Boys. Not my favorite.
Overall Rating - 3.13/5 (6.25/10). It's definitely 60s garage band music. But it's *good* 60s garage band music.
The classic rock sound of the 60’s with a little attitude, as its being recorded in the first ever recording device available in modern history tho
60-luvun särörokkia rupisilla soundeilla. Tämä oli ihan hyvä levy, vaikka kaikki biisit eivät olekaan loistavia.
This probably blew minds in the 60’s. And I’ll admit I like how it sounds like it was recorded in a tin can. Mostly covers, but they add so much energy to the songs they feel new. Favorites were The Witch, Do You Love Me, Roll Over Beethoven, Have Love Will Travel, Psycho, and Strychnine.
[wow intensifies]
Listened a lot. Great album.
I think every garage band wants to sound like this.
An enjoyable listen overall. Based on the cover, I was expecting some doo-wop throwaway, but I was pleasantly surprised by the energy and style. It’s got a raw, fast-paced sound that keeps things interesting. Not really something I’d reach for in my free time, but I can definitely see the appeal.
The first word that comes to mind is "fun". It's a fun record to listen to, and sounds like the Sonics were having fun making it. I thought the covers would be boring and tiresome, but they inject enough energy and personality into them that they sound fresh. Growly, shouted vocals, fuzzy guitars and raunchy sax solos complete the picture. Will listen again.
The original songs I liked, Witch and Psycho. The rest were a bunch of mediocre covers
Took me a while to find a groove with this but once I did I was so in. Long live lo-fi!
I was surprised at how many of these songs I knew. I don't like them and I don't dislike them. They're all decent and kind of fun/light, but incredibly generic.
Would have been incredible to see these guys live back in 1965
This style was fun but not likely I’ll be back. 3.5/5
Like The Rolling Stones
Одна из первых по-настоящему гаражных групп. Не только оказали влияние на первых панков, но и до сих пор остаются актуальными благодаря вечному хиту Have Love Will Travel. Альбом неплохой, рок-н-рольчик с сырыми гитарами и криками, под настроение вполне себе
Для 60х очень круто. Простенько и со вкусом. Один бэнгер топ.
Редкое старое гаражное что мне нравится
Лучшая песня: Have Love Will Travel Худшая: Good Golly Miss Molly Задорно, но однообразно
как-то однообразно, знал только have love will travel до прослушивания, ничего не изменилось после
Hectic, rambunctious, infectious, and pure adrenaline laced with grooves. Punk!
Thought they were right in the Beatles q zone, but turns out they each took influence from the same bands. Fun album with many covers
initial reaction was "ugh here is some shitty early rock covers with muddy production" but after awhile i kind of liked them and thought they were fun. Ears perked up when I heard the Black Keys lineage.
Meh would never put this on
reminds of the tornados but with a louder singer. Pretty wild for a mid 60's release. Not bad but likely more groundbreaking for it's time hence the innovative notoriety/LCD soundsystem mention.
Never heard of this band. Maybe when I hear a familiar track of theirs, I may know it. These guys are pretty cool.
Garage rock, but not overly harsh
I liked their songs very much but why did 60s producers insist that bands fill their albums with mediocre covers
Wow this album sounds like shit!!!!!! (complimentary). Although its mostly covers, they're mostly well done covers. The originals on the album shine, but there just aren't enough sadly!
Notable Textzeile: Oh, lots of things are gonna cure your ills But only one thing's gonna pay my bills And that's money, yeah, yeah, that's what I want Soundmäßig ist das eine passable bis gute Rock and Roll-Band, an einigen stellen etwas roher als andere und ein paar ganz coole Riffs. Auch die Rock and Roll-Standarts spielen sie gut. Dass das aber irgendwie „Sixties Punk“ sein soll erschließt sich mir, auch aufgrund der Songauswahl, Stil, Auftreten nicht. Aber das ist halt Marketing. Ohne das Morketing weiß ich aber auch nicht ob es einen Platz in der Rockgeschichte hätte. 2,5 wird zu 3.
Das ist eines meiner 5 meist gehörten Alben. Keine Ahnung warum gerade dieses, aber es geht irgendwie immer. Habe auch bisher immer gedacht dass es ein best of ist. Besitze auch gar keine CD oder LP davon, sondern habe es irgendwann per MP3 Exchange entdeckt. Perfekt.
Wooaaaooow!*screams* Innerhalb dieser 60s-PopRockBobBands mal eine schöne Abwechslung. Cover sind vergessbar, aber sowas wie "The Witch" fällt auf wenn man das Produktionsjahr beachtet. Für mehr als 2 reicht's dennoch leider nicht.
love when "garage rock" actually sounds like its recorded in a garage. on its own this album is great. i dont usually like early rock and roll all to much this album has great energy. the album had yesterday feels like it was trying a lot of similar ideas that are way way better executed on here. still not over how obnoxious alex harvey is ugh
The cardigan is imbued with a ✨powerful✨ magic
With all the covers, it's hard to tell how much is good because I like the songs vs because they're good covers. The album feels like it picks up on the biggest mainstream and outsider trends and marries them into something that sounds simultaneously right in the middle and on the edge. Ultimately, I dig their grungy, muddy, bluesy quality.
I love the edge these guys bring to stuff like "Have Love Will Travel" and "Strychnine". It's probably not more authentic than other white guys co-opting black music in the mid-60s, but it feels just a bit more dangerous than 'Please Please Me' or 'The Rolling Stones', which puts it square in my sweet spot of 60s music.
Why is this on the list? Mostly boring covers. The originals didn’t do anything for me. 1/5
Franchement album vraiment sympa pour du garage rock de 1965. Même si le style est répétitif, je trouve que la force de l'album se concentre dans son énergie et son style presque proto punk qui se retranscrit par contraste dans les reprises comme "Money (That's what I want)", bien plus aggressive que la version des Beatles. Cette explosion qui ressort alors dans de nombreux détails (hurlements de chiens, voix saturées, rythme beaucoup plus élevé...) vient apporter un vrai boost à des sonorités plutôt classiques et répétitive, offrant un vrai exotisme au projet et en l'extirpant de l'effet "Beatlemania" ce qui est un point extrêmement positif.
Not very exciting or original - especially when compared to The Beatles or other big acts of this time. Just not memorable!
This is music that's loud & makes you want to turn it up louder, a soulful & playful romp that teaches you the meaning of rock 'n' rolling. It's attitude, sure, but that's not what's fresh. It's also fun, but Chuck Berry was as fun & full of attitude as anyone before or since. No, what The Sonics were able to tap into was a sound that was simultaneously in your face & subtle, that was unforgivingly bold yet redeemably unadorned. It's not as obvious as it may seem to be loud & lo-fi at the same time, to be that confident in one's rough edges. I know The Beatles did 'Twist & Shout' & a plethora of other soul tracks, but these boys are really doing something else, foreshadowing MC5 & The Replacements's debut in particular. Tho Who? No way. This!
After giving this a listen, I understand why I’d never heard of them. It’s kind of like the Beatles’ first record, except the playing is sloppier, the recording quality is horrible, the original songs are unmemorable, the lyrics are mumbled, and the covers are all WAY worse than the original artists’ versions. I’m struggling to find anything to like about this.
Has this album not been remastered yet? Cheese and rice the sound quality is terrible. That aside, upon hearing the first few notes, I thought I was in trouble again with some terrible music. But that has turned around quickly. I do find that the covers lack the ability to over power the originals. In my opinion, if you can’t do that then why bother. Regardless of what is their music and what isnt, this album is a breath of fresh air after the trash I’ve been told to listen to from the 1001albun game we are playing. Choice cut: Do You Love Me
A visceral explosion of raw energy that defined the garage rock sound. While the intentional lo-fi distortion and aggressive mixing are technically fascinating for 1965, the album suffers from a lack of musical inspiration. The execution is powerful, but it’s not backed by strong compositional ideas, resulting in a repetitive experience that relies more on attitude than on structural complexity.
Don't let the cover fool you, these clean cut lads have a very noisy album in store for you!
2.
The Witch - 3/5 Do You Love Me - 4.5/5 Roll over Beethoven - 3/5 Boss Hoss - 4/5 Dirty Robber - 4/5 Have Love Will Travel - 4.5/5 Psycho - 4.5/5 Money - 5/5 Walkin' the Dog - 3.5/5 Night Time Is the Right Time - 3/5 Strychnine - 4.5/5 Good Golly Miss Molly - 3.5/5
Not bad. I see why this is considered proto punk, but it was a little too basic rock and roll for me to care a whole lot. Last track was pretty funny though.
Il aime bien crier…
It’s a story as old as the 1960s: a white band breaking through with songs first made popular by Black artists. The appeal is obvious—same sound, just packaged in a way that felt more “accessible” to suburban white audiences at the time. Here Are the Sonics!!! by The Sonics ends up feeling like a missed opportunity because of that dynamic. What could have been a tight, explosive record instead plays more like a four-track EP padded out with eight covers, many drawn from the Motown catalog. To be clear, I didn’t hate it. The band’s raw, unpolished garage sound absolutely rips, and there’s an energy here that’s hard to ignore. But it does raise a question: why lean so heavily on covers when their original material shows they were more than capable of carrying a full LP on their own?
Being added to this list is probably the biggest achievement these guys ever had. This is fine music, but not very original or groundbreaking for the time it was created. I'm sure there were at least 200 other similar groups around that time.
It’s nothing sophisticated - it’s just belting good fun.
this probably slapped real hard in 1965 but it's a little annoying for me today
Garage rock early influencers. It’s hard now for this to feel edgy or outsider at all. It just feels tame by today’s standards. But they set some standards for tons of love roc bands for generations to come. Respect the roots.
I didn't like this album, I'm not saying that is a bad album is just not my vibe
Garage Rock that sounds like it was recorded in the garage. It rattles by in less than half an hour and never stops for breath. "Have Love Will Travel" and "Psycho" are huge and the versions of "Walkin' the Dog" and "Good Golly Miss Molly" rival the originals, "Money" is one of the best versions out there. Great stuff.
The edge on these tunes would have decapitated a small Victorian boy. This album is, as the kids say, TOUGH.
FFS man... stop screaming about little girls! Also, too many covers. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ❌️ ★☆☆☆☆ (2/10) Total reviewed : 271 Already owned : 62 Purchased : 15 To buy : 1 Nope : 193
It's a good album, and I'm pretty sure that this must have been pretty influential when published. However, I'm not really excited. In particular, I don't think the covers are particularly interesting (neither the selection, nor the performance).
The way this album by a Seattle-area band timed up with the news the Seattle Sonics are coming back is like destiny.
I was annoyed by the vocals on this one. I know what they were trying to do, but I didn't like how they were doing it. I usually try to avoid reading the reviews before I rate and write my own, but I really had to check and see if there was something I was missing with this album... Thankfully the top two comments were in line with exactly what I was thinking...So many of these songs are just covers with nothing special about them and if I have to hear "WOOOOOOW!!!" one more time, I'm gonna lose it.
UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAU!