Here Are the Sonics

Just crazy. I cannot believe this is 1965. This is so punk. There's a fucking saxophone making it sound like a fuzz tone guitar. And the singer can really scream. This must have blown people heads up back then. Punk as fuck

I always like reading the Wikipedia article on these albums because knowing the context behind these albums makes them so much more enjoyable. This album is objectively mediocre -- musically, that is. But when you envision "a live band at the peak of its power, ready to mow down the competition without even blinking twice" (from wiki), the album becomes interesting to listen to. If I loved Seattle and if I loved history, then I would probably love this album. But seeing as I only have a mild appreciation for these things, my appreciation for this album also rests at a mild 3 stars.

I hated this, stop screeching

Shit-hot rock and roll but too many covers. At times it's raw and primal, other times it sounds like the soundtrack to a 90s movie for kids.

Favourite Songs: The Witch Have Love Will Travel

Groovy! More turf than surf, but surf adjacent tones. Made me look up who the original recording artist was for "Do You Love Me" (not these guys). I know they aren't the original recording of "Roll Over Beethoven." So, yeah a few covers. It's rough around the edges.

Lo-fi, sounds like they blew out the microphone, but fun songs.

I can see why the Brits dominated the mid 60s when this was their competition It’s not awful per se but I honestly don’t think I prefer any of the covers to the originals, and their originals aren’t particularly good. Definitely catchy, I did find myself enjoying the beat for a bunch of them. For its time it does a decent job of feeling like something newish but I just don’t think his vocals are quite it. I do gotta give them credit, any time an albums under 40 minutes on this list I breathe a sigh of relief since the artist actually respects our time. Innovative for its time but I think out of all the bands in the early/mid 60s these guys got left behind for a reason

The witch sounds like farting and he sounds drunk and out of time???? wow this song is a poopy doo-doo worlds most pathetic cover of roll of beethoven ive ever heard the recording sounds so bad i thought that maybe it was made in 1960 but youre telling me this is 65? I feel like there is absolutely zero value in this album. Why would you ever want to listen to it. This is all on top of terrible mic peaking. They figured out how to not let that happen by this time. Thanks for the schreeches in my ear

Good sounds out of an old band.

The songs in this album are actually pretty catchy and I would have enjoyed it a lot if it wasn't for the awful sound quality. And on top of that the lead singer would not stop screaming in each song and it was making me more annoyed the more it went on.

At first it feels poorly recorded, poorly mixed, and overtly loud. But in reality, It’s not poorly recorded or poorly mixed. It’s recorded exactly how they want it to sound, because this is their style. It’s so deeply rooted in what would come become punk rock roughly a decade later with harsher metal tones. Honestly, as much as I hated the loudness at the start of the album, in some kind of oddly charming way, it just grew on me. There are points where the screaming becomes too often and a bit obnoxious, but once this album settles in, what feels like ear bleeding harshness tends to normalize itself and become kinda cool. Does that mean it knocks it out of the park on every track? No, not really. There’s definitely a number of these tracks where the effects are still really overdone, and just makes me wish they had toned it down a little bit for a better listening experience. However, I think it gets it right on most tracks. There’s not really a bad track here. I can see how people might give it a 1 or 2, but for my tastes, I admire them for trying something so bold. It’s probably closer to a 3, but I’m gonna go up to a 4. It’s worth listening to. Did I need to hear this before I die? Shockingly, yeah

I feel like this would have felt like hardcore music to the mid sixties audiences. I liked the intensity but the screaming and distorted mics just wore me down too much by the end that I was happy it was over.

Fun 60's pop rock! Its not stellar, falling into the same pits as many of its contemporaries, where every song sounds the same. But at least they sound good! I hate to judge an historical album on its production quality, but wow, its really bad folks 3/5

Mijn overgrootouders zouden het geweldig hebben gevonden.

Zanger mag wat minder vaak gillen in de blikkerige jaren 60 mic

Won't listen to that again -

Great 60s music, loved it

5/10 The impact of this album feels more significant than the actual quality of the record would immediately suggest. It's a rough and ready effort that feels like the initial step from the rock and roll and rhythm and blues stuff they were covering towards a noisier, attitude-laden and tonally experimental sound that would be furthered by bands like The Stooges and Velvet Underground. To that end, this is a pretty interesting album. The original tracks here are really the ones that stood out as the most interesting, and it's a shame that such a high percentage of the tracks were covers, particularly as so many of them were so frequently covered by other bands, but in those covers you could here the sonic steps they were taking. Sure, it was pretty unrefined and in places sounded like it was recorded through a couple of yoghurt pots and some string, but there was a certain charm to it that helped this to maintain my interest in spite of the limited recording quality. I wasn't the biggest fan of the amount of shrieking and "Wow"s that Gerry Roslie threw in there, but I think that was as much down to an attempt to capture their live intensity as anything else. It was pretty interesting to compare this to the early Beatles, who covered some of the same songs, as they feel like the start of two different musical legacies bursting out from a similar starting point. Ultimately, this wasn't the easiest of listens and I didn't really get a lot out of the more common covers, so it's tough to give this a higher score, but there were definitely bits that I enjoyed and it probably gets an extra mark for it's influence in the beginnings of noisy and experimental musical directions. Witch - This feels like the direct midpoint between old school rock and roll and the punk sound of The Stooges that would follow. It’s simple but has an element of power to it that comes through the grubby, cheap vibe of the recording and the gritty nature of the delivery both instrumentally and vocally. It’s not the most exciting music listening from more than 60 years into the future, but it certain feels like the vibe of it is important for the time. Do You Love Me - And now, just to throw spanner into the mix of what I said about the last track, we get a fairly straight cover. It’s got a bit of edge to it, but all in all it doesn’t have the feel and vibe of the original, the recording sounds pretty terrible and Gerry Roslie starts getting a bit too excited with his screeches. Again, there’s probably something in this from the position of stylistic development of rock, but it’s not exactly bowling me over. Roll Over Beethoven - Great song, recorded by a vast number of bands, but there’s nothing particularly special about this. It’s well performed, but Chuck Berry performed it well too, as did the Beatles and Jerry Lee Lewis.. The recording quality is pretty terrible too. Boss Hoss - An original again, which is nice, but it definitely takes a lot from the Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis sound. There’s a decent energy and urgency to though and it at least feels fresh compared to the two covers that came before. Not bad. Dirty Robber - Another rock and roll cover in which the recording quality continues to be awful and Gerry gets a bit too excited with his Wows. The saxophone in particular sounds like it’s been etched onto a wax cylinder by hand. Have Love Will Travel - This is another cover, but I suspect this is the most well known version. Here they manage to bring a bit of swagger to things that works well. The sax is again offensively poorly recorded, but other than that the groove is pretty good, as is the attitude. Again, this has a pre-Stooges vibe to it, and it’s pretty strong. Psycho - Well this verse is pretty much a direct lift of the previous song, despite being an “original composition” by The Sonics. Unfortunately the main hook isn’t actually as good as the cover, but again, that swagger and vibe is core to it and works pretty well. Money - Another song that was endlessly covered at the time, and this version doesn’t bring much new to the table really. I bet these guys were a blast live, but this is a record and while it’s a decent rendition, I’m just not sure why I’d pick this poorly recorded version over one of the countless other recordings. Walkin' The Dog - Another cover. It’s got decent attitude and drive to it and a bit of swagger, but ultimately it doesn’t drag things far from the rock and roll roots of a track like this. Nighttime Is The Right Time - This is a slower effort that gets too stuck in the shrieking vocals, but is still a fairly routine rock and roll song. I quite like his vocal delivery apart from the over-reliance on shrieking, and it’s not a bad song, but again, apart from the grungy vibe, it doesn’t really feel essential. Strychnine - I’m all for this kind of song. It takes the core from the covers that they do, but adds a bit of their own spin and maintains that grimy, overdriven, attitude filled sound. I’d have been far more accepting of an album with a few more originals like this, even if he does lean a little too much into the shrieking again. Good Golly Miss Molly - Another cliché rock and roll cover. The pace they use is pretty good though and I like the grit and urgency of it, although it’s obviously more of a straight rock and roll track stylistically.

I think there are still some covers here, but loved the energy

I dig this kinda stuff. Rough and ready to party. 4/5

Pretty good. I can see how this band influenced a lot of bands to come after them.

Solid stuff

I enjoyed this, it’s 60s garage rock with some rock n roll thrown in, largely in the shape of cover versions and some very famous ones at that, which are fun but the original songs on the album are more interesting.

eigenlijk jammer van de covers... de eigen nummers zijn echt wel de beste

Impressive album of a real hard rock bamd of its era. They were more raw and hardcore almost punk like. They deserve better recognition although the best were cover songs but they killed it

I felt wholly neutral

Das Debütalbum der US-amerikanischen Band The Sonics wurde 1964 im Audio Recording Studio in Seattle (Washington) aufgenommen und 1965 auf dem lokalen Label Etiquette veröffentlicht. Die Gruppe aus Tacoma gehört zu den frühen Vertretern des Garage Rock mit deutlichen Bezügen zu Rock ’n’ Roll und einem rauen Klang, der später oft als Vorläufer des Punk beschrieben wurde. Viele Stücke sind kurz, direkt und mit stark verzerrtem Sound eingespielt. Besonders bekannt wurden Songs wie „The Witch“, „Psycho“, „Strychnine“ und „Boss Hoss“, die mit Orgel, Saxophon und einer bewusst übersteuerten Produktion arbeiten. Daneben stehen energiereiche Coverversionen klassischer Rhythm-and-Blues- und Rock-’n’-Roll-Titel wie „Have Love Will Travel“ oder „Money“. Die Aufnahme wirkt roh und nahezu live, was dem Album eine unmittelbare Dynamik gibt. Gerade diese Unmittelbarkeit macht den Reiz der Platte aus.

Another mediocre band. Idk what they do in this list. Normally I would give this a 3 because it's like mediocre Rock'n Roll which i generally like. But this album mostly consists of cover songs, which is pretty sad. Also very sad that the cover album seems to be the best they've got, otherwise another album would be in the list instead.

Not for me

Dieses Debüt klingt, als stünde man in einem verrauchten Kellerclub der 60er: der Beat hart, das Tempo hoch, die Stimmung elektrisiert. Die Sonics liefern eine rohe, fast ungestüme Form des Rock’n’Roll, die späteren Garage‑Bands den Weg ebnete. Doch zwischen den Highlights schleichen sich Wiederholungen ein, und die Lo‑Fi‑Produktion wirkt heute eher charmant als kraftvoll. Ein Album, das man für seine Energie schätzt – nicht für seine Perfektion.

Some '50/60s standards mixed with a few originals. A kind of shouty and aggressive garage rock, unusual for that time period. But overall, nothing really outstanding or groundbreaking that I absolutely had to listen to before I die.

A bunch of standards carried out with enthusiasm, but ultimately below par for me.

A punk-y take, before punk existed, on a bunch of standard songs. Clearly influential, but not that fun to listen to now.

2.2

Possibly one of the most influential bands of all time. You can hear the seeds of The Stooges, The Misfits, The Damned, Dead Kennedies, just every important and interesting punk band owes a nod to The Sonics. Bands of that kind sometimes lose their edge when listened to with modern ears but man, this album still sounds so raw and electric. It’s plagued with having too many covers but that’s a product of the time it was released.

I had no clue. These guys are great and a true garage band as they’re categorized. A little more raucous than some of the other bands around that time. I actually loved it.

the constant screeching makes this album so insufferable

My vinyl version has the Christmas songs, which I don’t like. The Spotify version has no Christmas songs, which I like. This album absolutely rips, let’s get that clear. Proximity to Christmas songs and the proliferation of covers are affecting my computation…

A good friend of mine once said “there would be no Sonics without Nirvana”. This was both the stupidest and most profound thing to ever leave his lips.

Uhh…. Early garage rock. Not good at all. Awful vocals. Awful production. Awful guitar playing. Awful covers of otherwise great songs. Awful. Did I mention that it’s awful? 1 awful star

4/5

This was a lot better than it had any business to be!

Music for record store guys that have not had a romantic relationship for a good long while. Rock on fellas.

Cool take on some great songs. Love the raw energy. This was a good listen.

Fun and noisy, gotta love it. People complaining about the number of covers or the loud screaming: congratulations, you’ve discovered the point of this music existing!

i couldn't even get through 30 seconds of the first song. There is a reason we've improved the technology, and this is an excellent argument for spending at least a little time learning how to actively listen, and for crafting music that is pleasing in *any* way. .... These assholes couldn't bother to do any of that.

eh, jein. covers ok, rest eher mässig - tonqualität noch mässiger.

Erfrischend gut dreckig gespielter Rock' n Roll

Lots of noise at least.

3/5

Listened but did not enjoy. Sound quality was poor (there are better productions from the same timeframe), lead vocal felt like I was being screamed at. No nuance on the covers. Why so many covers? I guess this is so early punk/garage, they had little writing talent developed yet? Stop screaming at me.

So much unnecessary screaming. I did not need The Sonics Here.

As it turned out, I got this right after White Stripes, which man be why I’m giving it a 3 instead of a 4. I’m glad these guys did what they did and I enjoyed listening through the first time, but the second time around I heard the strained recording quality and the over reliance on the screams and everything people complain about in the reviews. I’m all for noise, but clearly it’s difficult to do it well. So I’m glad for these folks and everything they inspired, but probably won’t listen again that often.

Real garage rock.

I really liked this. Certainly one of the better albums of the era. Wish it had more originals and fewer covers, since I think they’re significantly better.

you've taken my love, then you run away

Noisy garage rock that is pretty good but I’m a little surprised that the majority of the album as covers. The only originals are The Witch, Boss Hoss, Psycho and Strychnine. That’s only 4 originals out of 12 tracks. Even in the mid 60s that seems excessive. I can’t say any of their covers are better than the originals but I do like their energy. I can see how their energy was influential to the punk scene later. Favorite tracks, Strychnine and the Witch.

basic 60s shit

It’s like I’m overhearing a really good house band burning it down next door. The screaming was pretty cool the first five times.

Fun rock n roll, needs a remaster cause it hurts the ears a bit

Shit Beatles

Extremely unenjoyable to listen to

60’s Rock ⭐️Strychnine

a few covers, standard music for its time.

Proto-punk Par excellence! This still sounds fresh and is banging like a new band.

This is better than I thought it would be going in. The recording is so rudimentary that it improves this compared to if it were more polished. I love the song where the saxophone sounds like it is full of water and I think that the original songs especially The Witch and Psycho are really good.

Another's 60's album on this list with a majority of the run time consisting of rock n roll covers. It's fine I guess, providing a window into the very early garage rock scene & sound. It's all controlled chaos neatly packed into a tight package. I will say that their rendition of "Have Love, Will Travel" is what I usually associate as the "definitive" version (although that seems to be common opinion).

Proto-punk's finest hour. The garage rock covers work, the originals kick ass, long live the Sonics.

This was great. Loved all the covers.

3.5 Mostly just some white boys playing some dirtied up covers of RnB tunes, but it’s not bar. Guy’s voice is wild and intense and they’re banging the shit out of their instruments. And it’s like 29 minutes long.

So much screaming and wailing, so distracting from the band and lyrics.

Solid but nothing essential

It's ok at its best and shit at its worst. Also slightly haunted by that version of the song that's used in the LV adverts. Also their ability to make 2 minute songs feel like they last an hour needs to be studied.

Yep, tht a lot of loud covers. Not very original. 3/5

1.5

Hard to not compare to the Beatles…

torn on this. It really didn't do anything for me, few nice ideas and clearly an impressive exploration of Garage Rock before the genre existed, but it was just kind of dull to listen to in 2026? Wish there was more original tracks too, but I suppose filling a record with covers was the norm at the time

I really felt like there wasn't much going on in this album even with 12 tracks in under 30 minutes. I liked the instrumental aspects and punky sound but other than that it felt bland and colorless listening to it. Favorite Song: Boss Hoss. 4.5/10

Pretty cool. That’s it though. Just cool. Strychnine is awesome though.

Pretty fun album, nice tempo, good feel. Not what I expected from the cover photo, LOL.

Didn’t enjoy this. Rubbish singing and the songs all sounded the same

ouvi esse álbum na terça-feira de carnaval e gente (17 de fevereiro de 2026)... que momento mais improprio para escutar esse álbum HAHAH (mas vale a pena ouvir, porém não é dos meus favoritos). Uma mistura de the Beatles com petshop boys, sei lá, certeza que meus pais curtiriam. dou 3/5.

8/10

60s music funnelled through garage rock is a strange experience and generally feels like listening to a pub band. There are a few tracks where it works and sounds timeless like have love will travel but overall the style and the songs seem somewhat disjointed

Another day, another surprise at how much I enjoyed an album. I think this might be less to do with The Sonics in general, and more to do with it largely being an album of 60s standard classics, but still.

What this singer lacked in skill he made up for in sheer enthusiasm. The whaaaaahhh's were loud and extremely frequent, like he was constantly being stabbed with a needle. I wonder if Gerry Roslie was pleased with the Paste review which described his singing as "deranged squawking"? Away from the... distinctive... vocals we got a lot of fairly standard rock and roll covers plus a small number of original songs. I enjoyed the covers because I like this era of rock, but it was disappointing just how many there are. It's fascinating to me that this kinda thing was seen as completely standard in the 50s and 60s, but an artist trying to do that today would get absolutely torn to shreds for not putting the effort in. I liked the original songs as well. I feel like I should hate this album, but I kinda enjoyed it against my best judgement. It reminded me a little bit of The Hives, just with terrible production quality. Its a surprising: 3/5

That was insane.

A fun album. The funniest sounding saxophone I've ever heard.

It’s fine

Fav- do you love me 3.6/5

01) The Witch - 8,0 02) Do You Love Me - 7,0 03) Roll Over Beethoven - 7,0 04) Boss Hoss - 6,5 05) Dirty Robber - 6,0 06) Have Love Will Travel - 6,5 07) Psycho - 6,5 08) Money (That's What I Want) - 6,0 09) Walking the Dog - 6,5 10) Night Time Is the Right Time - 6,0 11) Strychnine - 6,0 12) Good Golly Miss Molly - 6,0 TOTAL: 6,50 (65/100) Current ranking: 568/823

6 / 10

I enjoyed that. I understand why this album's on the list with its influence on the music that followed. I'm glad I've learnt a bit about The Sonics. 4/5

Well that was shit! At least the Apple Music random played The Clash and New York Dolls afterwards.

Oh yeah, a solid three

Like an angry version of 60s Brit pop

I've never really bought into the revised historical importance of this record - in fact I think it is mostly a pointless exercise to go back to the 60s (and even the 50s?) and call early rock & roll stuff proto-punk, because it reduces the roots of punk to very noisy or loud rock & roll and ignores the glam rock and other 70s movements that shaped the attitude and sound of punk. That being said for a rock & roll album from the early 60s this is an interesting artifact, the lead singer has tons of energy and the 4 original songs are all great tracks about ghouls and witches and murder which is pretty awesome. The covers really let this down as they don't carry the same energy or fit as well with the overall sound. But despite this it is definitely worth a listen for Psycho alone which is a 11/10 track.

Decent 4

Strong American mid-1960s garage rock with some great originals and nice selection of covers! Love Roslie's voice.

Is this the origin of screamcore? Not quite as listenable as the best of the era, but still fun to hear the energy of this era.

Not really into the hooting and hollering 60s style

some good 60's raw rock. it's fun, not brilliant

Listened previously. Expectations: High - Verdict: Near Perfect - Maybe the greatest garage album ever. Everything about this is dirty, ugly and fun. 30 minutes of pure energy and I love it.

I have mixed feelings about the album. I like garage rock and I really liked the original songs. The covers did nothing for me. There’s zero value added there. The recording quality was maybe a little too garagey for me, too. The sax sounded like it was being played through kazoo paper. The singer’s yelling kept pushing through the equalizer. (Not to mention he used it like a crutch more than anything). But I will say I’m a little obsessed with the drum sound they got. It sounds a lot like the drums on When the Levee Breaks. Just booming. I love them it. Its inclusion in this list seems to be tied to folks like Kurt Cobain and Jack White lauding them and citing them as influences. But for me they sound like nothing more than a serviceable local band with great energy, young guys having fun making their garage rock. Not their fault they’re on the list - this was a 3 for me personally as a listening experience but I don’t think this is a great inclusion on the list.

me sorta likey

Amazing album. It's fast, raw, loud, aggressive and unhinged. It's punk before punk existed. You can see where bands like the Ramones got their inspiration from. They're kind of the complete opposite of the Beatles, even covering some of the same songs. But where the Beatles are refined and intricate, The Sonics take a sledgehammer to it.

It's good but another candidate for the could do with a snickers award

Érdekes rock feldolgozások. Annyira azért nem tetszett

you can tell they loved doing that growl

A bit Beatles-ish.

Classics

Surprised by how many of these I knew. Thought the music was fun but the screaming was a bit much on some of the tracks. Had a nice time listening but I’m not sure I’d listen again. Fav song: Roll Over Beethoven Least fav: Psycho

Very meh- reminded me of the lv advert and one other song was nostalgic but that was about as far as it got me. Short at least Specific rating - 3.7 Fav song- roll over Beethoven Least fav- dirty robber

Never a fan of being screamed at, even when the screams are in the form of "wah"s and "wow"s. Plus the sound quality was a bit shaky. Pretty fun music and I understand the "punkness" was ahead of it's time but it sounds pretty old to me. Favourite song: Do You Love Me Least: Dirty Robber

28 minutes of nothing to write home about. There are some old albums that really show you why they influenced and paved the way for what came after. This is not one of them. 2/5

Excellent, didn't realise I knew so many of the tracks

It was good, a nice surprise. Never heard of these guys, three stars

Where? I can't hear them.

I started listening to this a few weeks ago after seeing the album mentioned in a YouTube video about influential bands. I stopped listening after a couple of tracks as I found the covers to be pretty shit

Possibly the best collection of 60s hard rock, or at least in the top five. 4.5/5

Gostei muito de conhecer. Lembra Beatles mas sujo. Vi que foram essenciais para as bandas punks surgiram anos depois

not my vibe

Quite the raw, energetic sound for the mid-1960's hints of punk and grunge.

I like a good ruckus, and knowing the damping effect of the Pacific Northwest have a soft spot for causing a ruckus there. I don't know if this needed More or if it's just that hard to follow up the White Album.

I like this more than I like psychedelic rock from the same time. Sounds more influential to stuff that I like a lot. These guys were probably a lot of fun live.

Not heard of this Seattle band before but they grunged up a few classics quite nicely back in '65. The album was worth a listen too.

Never heard of The Sonics until now. Reading about them, I was excited to hear new garage rock music from my home state. It was kind of a letdown hearing a bunch of covers on this album, as I was hoping for a bit more creativity. I don’t hate it, but the way they executed these songs felt very… meh. I’m sure for the time, this band was really great and had some amazing live shows. But uh… I don’t know if this really hit the mark for me.

this would sound really fun on vinyl i reckon. had a good time

I guess kinda cool for the time Will I listen to again: 10%

Played one of these songs in my covers band. Have Love Will Travel. Shirt, sharp and very catchy. Less than 30 minutes. Lean as a greyhound. Spiky as a porcupine. Good stuff

standard 60s fare

6/10

the instruments used in this one are interesting choices in terms of how the music is shaped throughout the album, i overall think it was quite generic and not many songs stood out to me despite the overall atmosphere of the album being quite unique. i liked the rock and roll aspect of it all, but the rest is just not necessarily my vibe. I liked the production on „witch” and i enjoyed „do you love me”

Lots of fun this one. If you don't like this then you're boring.

Even if the music really dont hit the spot for me, it's always refreshing to have the wikipedia page available to get more enlighten on the history and impact the band has made. Eventually having a more positive impact on the listening experience.

Fine but won't listen again

Not my thing, soz

some familiar classics

Despite sounding like it was recorded on a toaster, this album is pretty solid. These cardigan-wearing white boys got loud. Favorites are actually the loosies from the back half -- Psycho, Money, Walkin' the Dog. Fine enough -- could have died without it though. Low 3

These honkies are absolutely rocking and rolling! I thank god every day that recording and mixing technology advanced past sounding like a gramophone. While it has it's charm sometimes, it isn't charming here.

I bet that joint slapped at a diner in the 60's

This honestly just sounds so dated. And a bunch of covers. Beatles did it better.

4/5⭐️ listened to high

3.5 (28:48, 12 tracks mostly covers (8), debut, 1965) Garage rock (way before punk, proto-punk) American band (Tacoma, WA), never heard of them. So in a way they are literally the grandparents of grunge. Can certainly see why Stooges, Nirvana, White Stripes, et. al. cite them as influences. Good covers (Do you Love Me, Roll Over Beethoven, Good Golly Miss Molly etc.) Just great drumming and sax. Terrible recording but that enhances the garage rock sound. Did these dorks (cover art could be improved sweaters and punk just don't go together and the kid on far left, what happened?) ever make any money or was this just a hobby? Per Wiki - They had three studio albums in the 60's, one in 1980 and then nothing until 2015. According to Wikipedia they are still touring though it looks like there was a 28 year hiatus from 1979 to 2007 (maybe they retired from their "day jobs?") Looks like the original band never got back together after breaking apart by 1968 but the name and sound drifted on to this day. The closest reformation was 2007. Definitely worth listening to before you die and it's less than 1/2 hour lunch break. Track listing 1. "The Witch" Gerry Roslie 2:41 2. "Do You Love Me" Berry Gordy, Jr. 2:19 3. "Roll Over Beethoven" Chuck Berry 2:49 4. "Boss Hoss" Roslie 2:24 5. "Dirty Robber" (The Fabulous Wailers cover) John Greek, Kent Morrill, Rick Dangel 2:03 6. "Have Love Will Travel" Richard Berry 2:38 7. "Psycho" Roslie 2:18 8. "Money (That's What I Want)" Gordy, Jr., Janie Bradford 2:01 9. "Walking the Dog" Rufus Thomas 2:46 10. "Night Time Is the Right Time" Lew Herman 2:58 11. "Strychnine" Roslie 2:13 12. "Good Golly Miss Molly" John Marascalco, Robert Blackwell 2:09 I don't feel like I can go above 3 because there is so little original material on this album but I bet if I was a teen in 1965 this would have been a 5.0 for me. I can see others being annoyed that these sweater wearing white kids are stealing black music and they we 3 years behind the Beatles formula on how to steal black music.

These guys seem to be a lot more fun than they promise on the cover. In the end they just seem to be an okay, but pretty amateurish cover band with very few songs of their own, though.

Good, loud, quick, simple garage rock. Nice listen.

3 numre inde er jeg ved at blive sindssyg over den konstante WOOOOOOW, og det blev aldrig rigtig bedre. De fleste numre har vi allerede hørt i bedre versioner på andre albums. Ved ikke om jeg synes jeg behøvede at høre den her for en eller anden akademisk baggrund for hvor garage eller punk eller whatever kommer fra

Vanvittig energi for sin tid! Jeg så The Sonics på Voxhall for 10 år siden, og de havde stadig en rigtig fed energi men de var også pænt gamle. Tror det havde været sjovere at se dem i 60erne.

Awesome energy. Super fun listen. Whooo!

I swear the god if he WUUUAAAAGHHS into the microphone one more time I’m going to loose it. 5/10

3/5

The Beatles At Home.

Great album

"roll over beethoven" is an iconic song name. voice a little more raspy than i would have loved.

Just another Rock'n'Roll Cover Band in the early 60ties with a strong northern westcoast touch.

This is probably what my Uncle’s cover band sounded like back in his day.

abrasive, in a bad way. bland, maybe not for its time, but at least to modern ears. that said, recording, mixing, and mastering as a garage rock band in the mid-1960s was likely no easy task, especially if you're just a group of musicians working on your debut album with no prior knowledge and experience on how to do all those thi... wait, they had two producers on this album? _and_ a sound engineer? surely it shouldn't sound THIS bad then??? come on dated and ultimately forgettable.

Maybe this is an historically important album, but its a lot of covers of rock n roll standards, recorded in pretty horrible quality. I can't really give it more than 2. 2/5

Really good, enjoyed that.

Individually good garage rock songs. Together… that’s a lot of “waaaaoooow!”

Fabulously aggressive music from 1965. It's like the Beatles but with actual balls. Thundering guitars and insane raw vocals. There is NOTHING refined about this music. Loved it.

Great Rock n Roll! The screaming (in my headphones) bumped it from 3 down to 2. Jarring and unpleasant peaking.

5/10 - I liked the overall garage sound and imagine it was influential for other bands at the time, but a majority of the songs were covers that didn’t really need a garage version.

Fun to see the origins of garage rock but it's not something I would go back to often. I like their originals more than the covers. 5/10

Was okay but not for me

como unos beatles más gritones y pasados de rosca, me gustó

i didn’t like this album and even tho it’s only 30 minutes long i was waiting for it to be over kinda. the frequent screaming wasn’t something i enjoyed and the fast tempo with the instruments is a bit too intense for me. also thought all the songs kinda blended into one. wasn’t the worst 30 minutes of music but definitely wasn’t the best -favourite track: DO YOU LOVE ME

Some decent songs here but just sounds a lot like the other 60s we’ve had. Psycho was good. High 3.

Really good garage rock from a transition period for rock music. Rough and dense but melodic. Good choice of covers but I liked the originals too.

Fine garage rock. The covers have mostly been better when done by other artists but is probably a fun live show.

WAAAAH Waluigi would be proud

cool but a little boring sometimes

I wish my high school prom was in the 60's/70's

Great length. When I was listening I thought this sounded a lot like Little Richard and then the last song was a cover of Good Golly Miss Molly. Also why are they from Tacoma

Very 60s, but I can also see how it was an important album

Have Love Will Travel is the best track. The rest is fine.

2/3. This grew on me as I was listening to it; at first, it was too thrashy and muddy for me, but it got more infectious as it went on. I like the energy of it, and I definitely feel that kind of brash, 1960s spirit of rock and roll thing going on here. Not sure if it's essential listening, but it's enjoyable for its short runtime.

Jocosos los sonidos de los sonicos Sonidos rápidos, bien vanguardista para la epoca

Hard for it not to sound so dated and simple. Not bad and worth being on the list for the history part. Good debut album.

So many cover songs just done in a rebellious way. Often a good formula for selling a bunch of records to the youth. Doesn't feel like required listening before you die.

Really liked this album, the vibes were solid and honestly would be a record I'd pick up to play on a slow chilly sunday morning

For years I only knew the Sonics by name and reputation as proto-punk cult faves. I still haven't gone deep in their discography, so it was good to hear their debut. I'm all for loose-and-loud, attitude-heavy garage rock. This sounds like everyone was holding on for dear life as they blew through the songs, and I'm into it. It wouldn't work as well if it weren't so lo-fi, but this was a fun listen.

I appreciate the history here. I'm not against garage rock and I have certainly annoyed my fair share of suburban neighbors with my own garage rock in my youth. The dude's voice here is pretty perfect for this kind of thing. But can't say the songs did anything for me.

I adored this when I first heard it many moons ago. And Strychnine is still a punk classic, despite the various attempts to murder it, not least by The Fall. Along with Psycho, the original compositions are the standouts here. Overall, this feels like a US version of the early Stones . Have Love is a lot of fun, but hearing this again, these are largely fairly straightforward covers, and mostly not a patch on the originals in terms of energy. You probably had to be here, but - perhaps because of time elapsed - this wasn't as as thrilling as I remembered it to be. Psycho and Strychnine do make it worth the price of admission on their own, but they make me that wish they'd written a few more of their own songs.

Energy! Rawness! Rock 'n' Roll with cardigans! The Sonics were a new one for me. It's quite a find. It's an album that's impossible to sit still whilst listening. I bet the live experience is where the real action was. It's no masterpiece in terms of production, but that's not the point. The Sonics sound like they genuinely believe in what they're doing. Half an hour later and I was a convert.

wouldn't necessarily relisten but if i'm ever making a movie soundtrack im coming right here. pretty cool that he can do the mel blanc bugs bunny scream. 3 stars

Enjoyed this very 60s bit beatlesy a few songs I recognised do you love me, roll over Beethoven was good as well

Eh

historically notable, but woefully uninteresting to me. the aspects of this album that made it novel to audiences in the 60s are so trite in the modern era that it's hard for me to find any appreciation for this. it's quintessential early garage rock. it is exact what you think it is, nothing more and nothing less, for 30 minutes.

It's alright. I hear the proto-punk garage rock sounds and I can imagine a world in which I like them but it's let down by the tracks themselves just being mediocre. The first song is probably my favorite, but it really failed to capture me. It's definitely an album that feels more important due to how early it is and what it inspired, then an album that stands on its own

Album Review 046 Here Are The Sonics by The Sonics (1965) Rating 2/5 Here Are The Sonics is an album that’s not shy in showing it’s influences; it’s 12 tracks of Little Richard riffs (and covers) played on overdriven amps, with Little Richard-type howls every 15-seconds or so. The Sonics and this, their debut album, are clearly an important stop-off point in the evolution of Rock’n’Roll and many bands who followed owe them dues (Stooges, MC5, etc.), but Here Are The Sonics isn’t as good as what came before or what followed, and Gerry Roslie’s WHAAAA-OOOOOOHH’s before every verse/chorus/guitar solo get tiresome quickly.

Totally Punk Rock

I enjoyed the album itself and I appreciate its influence on garage rock, but in the contemporary context it just looks like a bunch of white dudes covering their favourite black musicians. Also, how many times will this list make me listen to roll over beethoven? It’s been three times already and I haven’t reached album 300 yet…

Early garage rock.

I love the raw sound of slightly overdriven microphones. It was probably accidental but it really adds to the raucous garage band vibe. These guys are tight and I bet they were a killer live act.

Although I suppose I should be more supportive of a 60s Pacific Northwest band that definitely seems to have put the "garage" in "garage band", this album didn't really do much for me. I guess I can see how this has become characterized as a sort of proto-punk band and album, but poor production quality, poor musicianship and fairly unimaginative covers make for a tedious listen, although I can imagine they put on a good live show. I *was* thankful, though, it clocks in under 30 minutes.

I really enjoyed this quintessential garage band's sound, but, essentially, they're a cover band, right? I love the drummer's almost out-of-control sound and the general "giving it 1000%" vibe but am not a fan of changing the lyrics to Good Golly Miss Molly. She doesn't "have a ball," she does "like to ball." Still, I admire the energy.

typical american garage rock if i wanted to listen to beach boys i’d of played the beatles. lots of songs from adverts

Very classic 60s rock. Really enjoyed it. Liked the use of samples

Old time rock and roll at its best.

Cool

Awesome early rock and roll. Great takes on some classics and I really love the grainy production. Proto-garage rock. Fun to connect the dots and hear the direct line from this to the Stooges or the Hives.

For mange coverlåta, sjøl om eg sette pris på litt Roll over Beethoven i blant

I'm not so unreasonable to doubt that they influenced plenty but I just cant dig it.

I really loved the song Witch and appreciated the early grunge sound throughout the album (very protomudhoneyesque), though got bored of all the covers and themes. Cool they covered motown/R&B hits though. 3/5

Shockingly really liked this. Definitely set the stage for so many genres.

Improbably, I really like this. If some songs weren’t so overplayed it would be a revelation.

I thought this was going to be a knock off Beatles, but actually the rawness it was recorded with made it a really fun listen.

Yup. They went for it. They did it.

A pretty spotless rock record balancing experimentation with timeless styles. Phenomenal

A decent mix of garage rock/psychedelic/rock-a-billy, that may have bridged those gaps back in the day. Makes for an interesting experience but overall not my cup of tea.

The reason this is here is almost certainly "The Witch," a proto-punk blast that continues to resonate (Sublime, for one, ripped off the main riff for "Date Rape"). But the whole collection is good semi-clean fun, although it suffers from the same issue as a lot of work from its era (lots of non-definitive covers). I don't know if these guys could do better but they could certainly do a lot worse.

Much fun was had listening to this. Unabashed mid-60s rock and roll that wouldn't have sounded out of place in its heyday in the late 50s. The highlight for me was Psycho, which is appropriate really because the singer is crayyyyzeeee!

The band chose the perfect name for their relentless rock. They pack a lot of energy into 29 minutes, but basically only one emotion - “let’s party”. The poor recording (bad equipment or just engineers who didn’t know how to capture their loud sound?) is a bit hard to listen to and would put me off listening to this album frequently, but the fact that they were making punk 10 years too early means I’ll have to give this at least 2.5 stars.

I swear this is the 2nd time I've listened to this. It's a bunch of 60's white kids doing cover songs. How does this make the list? They're all good covers but aren't as good as the originals. The lead singer is average at best, the music is missing a certain punch (see "Roll Over Beethoven") compared to the original artist's rendition. This one's another head scratcher. In reading up on them it appears they were known for their "roaring guitars, pounding drums, and the fevered howls". Ok, so I guess they turned it up a little compared to other rock from 1965, low bar. "Have Love Will Travel" must have influenced the Black Keys decades later, their version is very similar. It's the best song on the album I think. 2 stars because it's good, but is it a Must Hear? Nope.

The drums sound so heavy and primal. Love the raw energy. Wish there are less covers on the album.

What a sonic punch to the ears! This was fun, rollicking, and glorious. I love it!

Covers?

Solid 60s rock n roll

Панкуха натрульная. Саксофон прикольный.

I can't with the screaming vocals in every song

#225/1001. This album feels like a paleontologist's find: an excavation of music that no one knew existed, but still feels like the missing link between 50s rock and roll and 70s punk. I guess it is unique and fresh and new to find out and to listen to it now after 60 years or so, but I also am sure it didn't really affect much of what was happening in popular music at its time, and perhaps only a little later on. The Garage rock phenomenon has been well documented, and a stream of lo-fi rock bands are sourcing from those nuggets, but still the mainstream went otherway. If I try to analyse the record or if its context or seems like a bad college band ripping through rock and roll classics with a crazy (in a good way) singer. So a few points for the context, a few for the rawness equals to something around 3.

7/10 Favorites: The Witch Have Love Will Travel Money

Many bangers. Wish I was twisting on the dancefloor.

Not really my thing

Never fails to disappoint when seeing the other reviews how many Beatles fanboys downvote everyone band from the period who isn't the Beatles. Who, of course, did not hit the studio until the year after they listened to this. It's almost as though they weren't the only band in the world, and had a greater appreciation for what was happening in the music scene then their fans...

Lot's of covers, but overall some good rock

Really good!, just a really fun album thats full of energy. "Have Love Will Travel" was one of those songs I never knew the name of or who it was by, really catchy! Love the vocals and how raw they are, aswell as all the screechy sax, and piano solo on "Good Golly Miss Molly" was BUSSIN. The lyrics on "Strychnine" reminds me of Viagra Boys.

Goeie ouwe, wat simpele rock 'n roll met een ruig randje. Proto-punk? Ja, er wordt wat geschreeuwd, maar dat deed Little Richard ook al. Verder weinig nieuws, vooral covers. Waarom staat dit eigenlijk in de lijst? De heren mikten drie albums op vinyl, belandden nergens in de hitlijsten, en verdwenen daarna nog verder in de onbekendheid waar ze toch al vertoefden. Ik zou eigenlijk meerdere punten aftrek moeten geven voor het feit dat de snobs dit schijfje überhaupt in de 1001-lijst hebben gezet. Ze hebben geluk dat ik het genre leuk vind. Rock 'n roll moet je niet al te braaf brengen.

Deze verzameling covers klinkt alleen al gedateerd door de opname-kwaliteit. Covers zijn met name van klassieke 'zwarte' muziek, die ver-rockt en ver-'60-t wordt. Ze kiezen er voor om de swingende basis en de zangstijl redelijk intact te laten. Dat zorgt ervoor dat het best makkelijk luistert. Tegelijk voegt het daardoor niet perse iets toe. De nummers die wel van henzelf zijn. zijn meestal best vergelijkbaar met het oudere materiaal (vooral het eerste nummer is een negatieve uitzondering). In die zin, kunnen ze het dus wel.

Ik ben niet bekend met the Sonics, dus in hoeverre ze trendsetters waren of hoe invloedrijk, geen idee. Ze brengen een fijne pot rock n roll, al is het wel ietwat gedateerd. Het is een mix van covers en zelfgeschreven nummers. Ergens zijn covers een beetje valsspelen, maar dat was in die tijd nu eenmaal veel meer gewoon. Jammer alleen dat de covers beter zijn dan hun eigen nummers. Het is met name veel herrie maken en energie in de nummers stoppen. Ik kan me wel voorstellen dat een live optreden in die tijd wel helemaal top was, want het is dan moeilijk om stil te blijven staan. Ik vind het wel geinig om hier kennis van te nemen. Rock n roll zorgt altijd wel voor wat positieve energie. Het geschreeuw had wel iets minder gemogen. Ik ben blij dat ik dit niet op een koptelefoon luister, want dat is elke keer standje gehoorschade. Het past prima op brakke speakertjes. Ik geef een 3, al ben ik blij dat de schelle opname na een klein half uur is afgelopen.

2.5 but rounded up for some hits

Love this ! kinda like if the beatles were cooler and less boyband-y. Rough guitars, pounding drums, short songs, punchy vocals with the howls is chefs kiss. Have love will travel riff seems to have echoed through modern music. 29 minutes isn't long but maybe thats all you need. big fan.

I appreciate the historical influence. With all the Jack White I've heard already on this journey, no I really see it. It's a really moved, "aggressive" rock and roll. It's fun, it's electric, it's low budget and low fidelity so it's also influencing that iconic raw sound. It also feels like the appropriation of black culture so it can be found digestible by a narrow minded population. It doesn't sound fun enough to make that feel any better. There ~is~ a handful of tracks written by their lead, Gerry Roslie, but let's be honest here, the covers are the tracks that have stood the test of time. My rating for this one is a battle between a fun classic sound and cringe. 2.4/5

It’s like they took all their favorite rock and roll classics and played them as loud and fast as they could. I loved it.

You can definitely hear where Garage Rock started. Some good guitar solos. I think I'm giving this an extra star because I never heard of them and glad that I have now, but not sure I would listen to this again.

What a bunch of goofballs. I kinda like it. Could use a few more WAAAOOOOOOOOs.

the album's just so fuckin *cool*, the fact that it's half a century old is crazy. ig they invented screaming and garage bands or whatever. the kind of shit that blows the lid off a baby boomer homecoming dance. favorite song is Do You Love Me. solid 3.49/5, one more banger would put the score over the edge

Rating: 6/10 Maybe The Sonics is exactly the kind of music I should like as a 60’s rock band with a raw and abrasive sound before that was really a thing. But I find it kind of annoying at times and the production (something that isn’t often a barrier for me) sounds like it was recorded through a tin can. Despite that, some raw infectious energy straight out of 1965 is interesting to hear

Just fine, probably a pillar of music from the 60s or something but as far as a 2025 listening experience it's ok 5.2/10

The age and recording quality really hold this one back, but still some fun energy. 7 lizards out of 10 wizards

Ok I loved this?? Great stuff, loved the covers too! 5 ⭐️

Took me a bit, but I definitely see the appeal. Sort of a complementary sound to the bigger hits of the time, the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, etc. I can tell that many punk and grunge bands derived their sounds from this band. I wish there weren't so many covers on here. Their original stuff is pretty good and fun, albeit dark AF. I am curious to know how Strychnine was received back in the day. And The Witch. Both are unique songs, but don't seem to jell with what I image the 60s were like.

Enjoyed!

Not for me. 1/5

Zu roh für mich

Always funny when the album is here because if one song in particular (me when I am a commercial for insurance) but it also kinda sucks but the rest of the album is good

Sounds like way too much of the same from that era. How about writing some of your own songs??

This was good. It had rhythm and bite in equal measure. One of those albums that sounds its age but has enough going on sonically to still catch the ear. Good proto punk and harder white man blues.

Love the Sonics

It's nice to listen to. But it's so typical 60s and so predictable

Pretty rad. Despite being all covers. It is a high strung, pure adrenaline, balls to the walls uncensored rock n' roll with a ton of attitude. Pure analog recording techniques really enhance the sound of this album. There isn't much substance here but this is true rn'r. As opposed the onslaught of phonies who caught record deals in this era.

Liked this early punchy punk vibe. Not sure I'll be listening to it all the time, but glad to hear it a few times today.

Für diese Zeit unglaublich gut!

i though this was one of that "you had to be there" and was also considering the year, but after checking other albums released at that time there's no excuse to be this much noise of a record

Fun and energetic. Not sure about having both "roll over Beethoven" and "good golly miss Molly" and the first track was a bit fuzzy for me. Low 3

Very solid 3 , raw pop rock

Similar material to The Beatles at the time but with more of an edge.

They’re playing the standards, sure, but the way they’re playing is anything but standard. It’s all slightly on the edge of good taste, fighting between distortion and a penetrating clarity. The performance is dirty, fuzzy, wild and nasty, elevating songs which could in the wrong hands be a simple, pretty distraction. I usually struggle to connect with these early 60s cover albums but have no such issue here given it has plenty of the Sonics’ own personality. Four of these songs are written by the band - which helps things whip by nicely. I can’t wait to hear more!

The Sonics get a solid 3 from me, it’s comparable to the earliest Beatles records and I think compares favourably, I like the edge they have. But ultimately they don’t have the original tunes I get from, say, The Monks around the same time which limits this to an enjoyably 3

I don't mind bad production and often I think it adds to the music but it's this type of 60s abrasive production that I just can't stand. The Sonics here sound like the Beatles playing in a microwave. The covers, whilst I am not all too familiar with all of them, are much worse than their originals, and their own songs are really poor. I'll admit that this sort of music is not something I often enjoy, but this was particularly shit It's been just over two months since I've had a 5. Save me someone, save me

Loud and intense covers of other peoples tracks. Some of it is pretty cool, but a lot of it is a bit of a waste.

A lot of these songs are covers, but the Sonics were very influential to garage and punk rock, so I guess are deserving of their place on the list. 3⭐️

I enjoyed this one. It’s fun to hear the seeds of punk being sown and I love the lo-fi production style which has influenced many bands since. Unfortunately a lot of the album is covers which I have heard better versions of. Their version of Do You Love Me does make for good listening though. The originals are good, as is album’s sound and aesthetic but there is a limit to how many times I can hear scream ‘whoo’.

This is basically an album of covers. Only 4 of the 12 songs are original material, the rest are covers from other artists, so I won't emphasise on them, but I'll say that the group at least brings some personality with the distortion and rough production of the garage rock sound. So, this leaves me with 'The Witch', 'Boss Hoss', 'Psycho' and 'Strychnine'. Except for 'Boss Hoss', I think they are truly the best tracks of the record, and also believe the 'proto-punk' fits well, due to the high pace, the attitude of the voice mixed with some screams and the riffs, which are some traits that are also noticeable in the covers. But there isn't much to talk about, honestly. I wasn't a big fan of the record. I think it is alright and I get that it is influential, but didn't impact me nor interested me.

Old school rock n roll with actually a bit of swag. Some classics that I didnt know came from these guys. The Sonics are probably a forgotten great group.

I can see the inspiration and influence that this album would have on punk later on, and the covers are decent, but the main thought i get with this album is a resounding "Woooooww!!" by Gerry Roslie, as it is used so incredibly often that you'd think they based the album around it. Otherwise I'd say its a decent listen, but otherwise unremarkable. You have the fuzzy and heavy mixing that would later be used to great effect on other records, and some of the original compositions are pretty solid, though its mostly covers. I wouldn't turn it off, but I also wouldn't be reaching for it either.

Another new one to me. Track one amd i lile it so far - garage rock from the 60’s. A lovely bridge from the 50’s doowop, 4 on the floor blues influenced rock n roll of Elvis, through the stooges, the cramps and oneqrds to grunge. That reach is far (though not necessarily wide). Are they the best muso’s i’ve heard? Nope. Is it the cleanest production ever? Not even close. Does it matter? Not a bit. Looks like quite a few covers on this no? Also doesnt matter. Still their own relentless rhythmically driven dirty rock stylemon the covers so they fot well. I swear you can hear this band breathing and grunting with effort - consider the manically fast drum fills aa the deep breath in and the outpouring rythm that flows after as the grunting effort and strain of pulling out the music from the band. Love the ryt section. Again, not the most polished but definitely in it together and there for each other, driving the band onwards. Really enjoying the grunt and grunge of this album.

Rarely spoken of when talking about influential bands, but really should be up there 4*

so close to being a 5

It’s not their fault they sound like something my ex would love. That guy ruins everything.

Not really sure why this album is necessary for us trying to expand our musical mind. It came out the same year the Beatles released Rubber Soul but has the same production of a mid 50s rock album.

Nuggets like garage rock. Too many covers, but pleasant enough.

Never heard of these guys before. It looks like I have yet another 60s pop rock album on my hands. I'm gonna blow my head off, I swear. There can't be this many 60s pop rock albums that are worthy of my precious music-listening minutes, can there? "The Sonics" is also one of the blandest band names you could ever have for a musical act. Okay, okay. I'll stop bitching. Garage rock. Proto-punk. Hmm. Interesting genres, though I don't quite hear them. This just sounds like a regular rock and roll jig to me. I'm in awe at the twenty-eight minute runtime but I really, really did not like this one. The vocals are generally pretty obnoxious and the instrumentation regularly dips into being nauseating thanks to the poor production. "The Witch", "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Money" are decent, though that only comes down to the songwriting, really. My cheeks were clenched tightly throughout this album. At any time, without any warning, I would be assaulted by this band's unique methods of decimating my ears. Be it the hacky, rock-and-roll screeching, crunchy guitars or horrific sax numbers, I was genuinely in a flinched state while listening to most of this album. I normally listen to these albums through my laptop speakers, though I was punished greatly for the single, sordid occasion where I chose to listen to this album with my earbuds. Book time. A musical and cultural time capsule. First garage rock band to make a name for themselves. A regional act that left an impact in the Northwest America music scene. Wikipedia adds further credence to their influence over garage rock, though that's about it. I would snub this thing if I knew of 1001 albums that were more worthy than the ones on this list, but I'm kind of working with a deficit here. Being influential in any genre is a pretty good achievement, I suppose. I cosign this inclusion.

Well, that was a wild ride. Intense and abrasive, even by today's standards.

This is simply garage rock. Just raw and unrefined, like rock is supposed to be. Definitely 5 stars.

One of the worst 60s cover bands you're ever likely to hear. What these guys ARE from the 60s?!?

*1965. *two huge songs on here: Roll over Beethoven and good golly miss Molly *Pretty much every song sounded like those two… RATING - 6/10

This is pretty good garage rock. A little dated but good in small doses

Their debut album. Rock. I saw a documentary on Punk where they also explored 70s Pub Rock in the UK. This reminds me of that scene. Up tempo covers of old two or three minute songs. Its just good fun. Raw, energetic and dancey.

Interessante Versionen von Roll over Beethoven, Do you love me Ansonsten typisches 60er Rock ohne große Highlights 3/5

It's like punk boogie, awesome

This album felt like it was ten minutes of covers. The lead singer of the sonics sounds like where Hollywood got the idea of the doofus rock guy. It’s pretty blatant. Pretty fun album. In and out. Good songs.

12/12, no notes

Meh

idk man in one ear out the other

Five white dudes in 1965 making garage rock. A sax and a piano show up. Kinda want to do a cover of "Psycho." Grew on me as it went on. Thankful the version I found was just the album, and not a re-release with a bunch of bullshit added on because time no longer exists. Five stars because why the hell not

Good, but didn’t blow my mind

Fun and rocky with a playful element. It reminds me of The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Thinking about the setting in which this album was released in makes it much more enjoyable. Ahead of its time, but not something I would reach for.

She's An Evil Chick 1001 Albums Generator 166 (11/20/2025) !!!Here Are The Sonics!!! is a trip. It's pretty amazing that an album this raw and punky could come out in 1965, a year largely dominated by avant-garde, spiritual jazz and, like, Bob Dylan. Then just snuggled in the middle of all that is this proto-punk album from Seattle. Musically, The Sonics have some really interesting ideas, which is especially evident on original songs like The Witch and Boss Hoss. This album is probably held back by the fact that most of it is comprised of covers of rock'n'roll songs. Some of these covers are really good, like Have Love Will Travel and Good Golly Miss Molly. My biggest problem with this album is that it largely all blends together. The most egregious example of this is when Have Love Will Travel, which is a cover, goes into Psycho, which is an original. The guitar riffs are pretty much the exact same. The vocal yelping also gets a little old after a while. With that said, this is still a solid burst of energy, and at under 30 minutes, it's an easy listen. I'm sure that The Sonics were very influential for the punk movement that they were over a decade removed from, so for that, it's certainly interesting. 3/5. Favs: The Witch Boss Hoss Have Love Will Travel Least Fav: Roll Over Beethoven

Fun!

Super

Decent covers!

Definitely appreciate this more than I like it.

At it’s best its rowdy, blow-out rock and roll but at it’s worst it’s a bunch of uninspired covers.

Hadn't heard this one before but it was a fun listen

Rock, Beat, 1965 -> 2

The vocals feel like they're blowing out my ears

Nice.