Reviews (page 9 of 9)
6/10. Pretty enjoyable for what it is, but I am glad it was short.
Their original songs are quite good. Unfortunately there are only three of them on the album. 6/10
Lots of raw energy with descent guitar and piano work laced throughout. Protopunk vocals and garage band style with some classic rock and roll riffs. Strong cover of good golly miss Molly too close out. Dirty robber, have love will travel, money, nighttime is the right time, good golly
Very nice
60s punk before punk was a thing. A lot of covers that, while pretty straight, are still given a hard edge and a little more shouting than the originals. A quick and fun listen to boot.
A functional if uninspiring 60's garage band delivering a stream of standard covers and a few originals. What set these types of bands apart from the crowd was their ability to write better songs than the standards e.g.The Rolling Stones and Them. The originals here don't do much.
A fun listen but I just can't give any real credibility to an album of (mostly) covers.
Enjoyed this alot, did not expect to. Probably the best of this type of music
I didn't know bands were this sloppy and weird in 1965. Cool.
There is just a hint of the beginning of punk rock in here I guess, but the rest of it is pretty middle of the road - exactly what I expected based on looking at the album cover. The screaming got real old after a bit. Still, some good songs.
Sorry boys, The Beatles got there before you, and did it way, way better. Lots of screaming and faux excitement but the music behind it is flat as a pancake. I'm guessing these are Americans trying to emulate the Mersey sound. Whoever they are, it doesn't work. Just sounds like 10 alternate and inferior versions of Twist and Shout.
Very enjoyable. The golden oldies done really well. We had a good dance around the kitchen
Aggressively Lo-Fi.
Nice!
Pretty interesting. Super poor sound quality though, esp in the vocals.
Loved it.
Not really sure how to rate this. On the one hand, it's just a bunch of covers so who cares, but on the other hand there is a raw energy here that is palpable and impressive. They put their own subtle spin on the covers but at the same time there wasn't much difference between them and every other version of the songs I've ever heard. I probably won't listen again but I didn't hate it. I bet they would have been great to see live. "Strychnine" and "Have Love Will Travel" are great songs. "The Witch" & "Boss Hoss" grow on you.
Fun energetic garage rock. Way early 60s. White covers of 50s R&B. Raw sound. A level up in recording from Louie Louie but just barely. Tacoma meets the first Beatles LP, without the ballads.
Not sure I understand the hype on this one. Pretty generic sounding bar band. I guess this came out around '65, sure doesn't sound innovative or forward looking. Sorry not drinking the Kool aid on this one. 1 🌟
Not a banger for me
È sempre divertente ascoltare questi album. Ma anche questa volta a un certo punto ho un po' sofferto il fatto che sembrasse non finire mai e che sia diventata una sorta di punizione. Sono combattuto perché per me sarebbe un 2.5.. Ok, ho provato a dare 2 ma mi è dispiaciuto quindi vado per 3.
Great sound but it's all covers and would rather listen to the originals.
Classic and timeless
Some great early punk. Lots of 60s waows and surprisingly great guitar tones. Original tracks are great. Quite boring seeing a lot of the same covers being done on a lot of bands of that era but I suppose that was the done thing. Overall very good
They were wild!
Energetic and not unusual. Surfing the wave of their music style. Didn't listen to the lyrics. Probably won't listen again.
unremarkable
The music is too loud for me
Cool take on some classics. Very early punk?
nah
It was good. 3.5 stars. Golden pop oldies but with a punk vine a la the hives or the vines. But are these all covers? I think I need more context for why this is a classic album.
Nice old school garagerock, but a lack of original material.
Older garage rock sort of thing. Think Louie Louie. Simple. Apparently influential on punk/grunge stuff. Seattle band
hmm. After suffering through a number of tracks, I did a little recon on this band as to ... well, why they're in this 1001 list at all. "Major influence" on garage and punk bands...simple chord progressions...tonal aggression." ... vocals: "wwWOWWWWWWWW!!!!!" <lather/rinse/repeat ad nauseum> Just because you're among the first to create a subgenre of not enjoyable noisy music doesn't really make you a legend IMO. Then again, to each their own :P It's not my bag. (the covers were not terrible, admittedly. If I were being particularly snarky I'd accuse them of sprinkling them perfectly throughout the album to prevent some ppl from turning it off...) 2/10 1 star
Fuld fart
In Conclusione: Ho apprezzato la vena un po' punk e ruvida nonostante l'album fosse chiaramente indirizzato ad un contesto un po' festaiolo, forse non era una cosa originale dei The Sonics ma ho trovato curioso il fatto che evidentemente questa cosa di rendere più ruvido un genere "pop" si ripropone ciclicamente nella storia della musica. In ogni caso mi ha divertito, la formula è chiaramente sempre la stessa un po' swing blues ballabile, conoscevo "Good Golly Miss Molly" e forse la mia preferita è stata "Have Love Will Travel" (ma che significa?). All'inizio ero più esaltato (verso il 4) ma poi la struttura troppo ripetitiva dei pezzi m'ha fatto scendere al 3.
Il suono distorto del disco li rende scoppiati e si sposa benissimo con la loro energia. Per me questo sarebbe un 3.5 però voglio premiarli perchè comunque mi hanno stupito. Sembrano un gruppo punk che fa musica anni 60 e questa cosa mi piace.
blodige ører pga. lydkvalitet. De hyla kunne de vært foruten. Sonic weapon burde det hett. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weapon
Marks for influencing, marks for own compositions but otherwise messy.
Solid garage rock sound from that time.
A nice album for the nice weather. Annoyed me that he screamed at every song though
Best album so FAR!!!!!! I love this shit!!
1965 beginning of Punk Rock. Yes!
meh it’s just not my style but i appreciate it for what it is
3 1/2 strong influence on punk and Seattle scene. The Witch is a good song.
After seeing the Dictators on previous page, I was just thinking I hadn't revisited any "proto-punk" records for a few years. I don't remember liking the Dictators, and I didn't remember much at all about the Sonics. Looks like I downloaded this album in 2013, and I probably haven't revisited it. Anyway, HOLY CRAP this is better than I remembered/expected. Under 30 mins, and just a burst of energetic garage rock, containing most of what is good about rock n roll. As someone who isn't generally a huge fan of the mainstream rock canon, this album is fun enough to make me temporarily change my mind. The sound is crisp and competent, but with enough sloppiness & rough edges to make it sound like they're not trying. They cover some early rock "standards". They keep everything simple & it works just fine. My only complaint is that singer keeps trying to do a James Brown "WAAAAAAAH" / "WOOOOOOW". It's fucking annoying and lame whoever does it.
Noisy punk rock in the 60s? Yes please. A couple of the covers on here are really stellar, well others kind of fall short, but overall it's an important record for more grungey/punk-y production. Fav Tracks: Do You Love Me, Have Love Will Travel
There's a real Nuggets feel here. I can hear how this may have influenced later punk and garage rock bands. Cool sound but I’d be more impressed if they had the originals to match. Maybe if they’d stuck around longer they would have produced something really amazing. 2.5/5 Favourite track: Do You Love Me
Proper OG rock and roll, recognised some tracks, one off Earthed 2. Some beach boys vibes but better. Feel-good
Honestly, sometimes I think people had it all figured out 60 years ago. Garage rock does not get wilder or better than this.
The singer can really scream, the guitarist doesn’t so much play his instrument as he attacks it, and they’ve got a great sound. They had a hit single in the Northwest and rushed out an album of Rock and Roll covers to try and capitalise. And apparently I need to listen to it before I die. Ok. Good covers, lads.
Funky throwbacks, not a whole lot of depth to it though.
Rambunctious rock from a bygone era. Good stuff🤘👌
Initially I thought three stars but reality is I’m unlikely to revisit or relisten however it was really decent garage rock n roll highlighting how 50s rock n roll was still being bastardised in the early 60s and not much had really moved on
very retro beatles vibe. very banging sound. pretty sure they whitewashed black music though.
Weirdly familiar, guess that's because this inspired so much later garage rock and faster punk. Not always the most enjoyable thing to listen to, but can appreciate the influence.
Saved Prior: None Off Rip: The Witch, Psycho, Money Cutting Edge: Do You Love Me, Strychnine Overall Notes: One of those albums with a low profile but incredible influence. Crazy that this was released the same year My Girl by the Temptations went number 1. Proto-grunge and proto-punk for sure, super simple chords and stuff but the energy sells it.
Pretty cool, but unsure about why _this_ particular album is one of 1000 I have to hear before I die. There's a lot of covers that don't do anything particularly inventive.
Fun, will probably never listen again
Pure garage rock. BT: The Witch, Boss Hoss, Have Love Will Travel
Charming, staple for the time period, but faster and a lot more screaming. Kinda repetitive and the poor quality of the screams kinda hurt my ears, but it did go on to inspire later punk, so I'll give credit where credit is due.
Fun.
Not only are they insanely important in the history of music, but they rock harder than any band at the time. Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, they also don't overstay their welcome. I'm willing to bet that with slightly more nuanced songwriting that they'd have more barn-burners like The Witch, but some crazy guitar solos make it seem like music your parents would hate. And that's awesome.
Fun swing album
Fun but too many covers
Super Fun with some absolute classics on here. It's short and sweet too. Top 2 tracks for me are Strichnine and Have Love Will Travel = Guy Richie - Rock N Rolla.
Fun album but can’t give it more than 3 stars for the amount of covers
Loads of covers but they made them their own and I enjoyed it. Maybe there weren't enough songs to go round in 1965? 6/10
So many covers. Good covers...but still covers.
I’d actually only heard of The Sonics because LCD Soundsystem referenced them in a song I really liked about 15 years ago (I still do, but I did 15 years ago too). I had some vague idea that they were an 80s, avant-garde, electronic band, so now I feel like a bit of a fool. Absolutely loved this album, or more specifically I absolutely loved the songs that weren’t covers. The covers were still good but I much preferred their original stuff. I spent a lot of my teenage years in the back rooms of various dodgy North London pubs watching Billy Childish gigs without ever thinking to explore the origins of his sound. I wish I’d done a bit more investigation. This album was recorded more than a decade before punk broke, but it still sounds raw and vital over half a century later. Loved it. Five stars for the original stuff and four for the covers.
Enjoyed the rawness.
loved this - just a really good racket!
Hated it
Awesome innovative band, ahead of their time. Fun fact, The Black Keys were inspired immensely by this band, you can hear it in a lot of their older music
I had no idea that this was the band who did all those classic songs, but I loved it! It was good vibes and fun music :)
The cover art did not prepare me for what I heard! I liked it a lot, and surprised it's so old tbh
It's ok, can see it was probably quite groundbreaking. But their own stuff is so much better than the covers I don't know why there are so many
Kolejny klasyczne rokowanie, podobny rocznik, a nawet starszy niz byrdsy, bo 65, ale klimatycznie calkiem inna bajka, nie ma tutaj za bardzo wlasnych kompozycji, a glownie interpretacje klasycznych kawalkow rokowych nawet z lat 50, a wszystko jest zagrane tak jakby byl to ich ostatni live wystep jaki maja zagrac, energia nie tylko na wokalu, ale i instumentach, polaczona z surowoscia nagrania brzmi jak dziadek punkowania, albo nawet bardziej garazowego punkowania, zwlaszcza przez ta surowosc, wiec sa to garazowe interpretacje kawalkow ktore wszyscy znali i kochali, zagrane o wiele agresywniej niz wczesniej, brzmi jak dobry przepis na debiutancki albumik bandy, chociaz preferuje ich pozniejsze plyty, to jednak here are the sonics sa obecnie najbardziej rozpoznawalnym kawalkiem vinyla bandy, ale znajda sie tam takze 4 orginalne traki, otwierajacy witch, psycho, boss hoss i strychnine, na plejke dorzuca openingowy trak, bo have love will travel juz bylo dodane wczesniej, no i w tym przypadku mozna posluchac sobie mono/stereo w zaleznosci od preferencji na spoti, sprawdzilem obie i niestety nie moge potwierdzic teori z byrdsowego albumu, bo mono brzmi w tym wypadku tragicznie, glownie przez dziwne ustawienia na glosnosci, podbicie na sluchawkach nie pomaga, bo jeszcze bardziej przez to rzucaja sie szumy, jakby nagrywane z kiepskiej jakosci vynyla i slyszac wszelakie trzaski, wiec w tym przypadku wersja stereo to musi byc jakis pozniejszy remaster, ktory jest pozbawony tych bolaczek
I have heard covered versions of lots of these songs but didn't know that they could all be attributed to one band. It was good to hear the originals but the lead singer has a crutch on that woo scream and every single song
Un básico Imprescindible
my definition of raw
Weissbrotiger Bürgerschreck, Avant-Punk aus der Garage, der einen Beat-Standard zu setzen wusste, den sich später u.a. The Hives zu eigen machen konnten. Es wird das Mikro gefressen und der Verstärker über seine Grenzen hinaus gepeitscht. Das zerrt mächtig am Tweed aber auch an den Nerven - knapp 30 Minuten fühlten sich selten so lang an. Erschöpfte 1.6
Psychobilly, da liegt Gewalt in der Luft voll Sex and Speed and Prügeleien. Als wäre statt Marty McFly (der ungezähmte) Biff Tannen bei Marvin Barry and the Starlighters eingestiegen und hätte die Band nach seinen Vorstellungen versklavt. Roh und ultrabrutal, solche Typen machen mir Angst mit ihrer Wildheit, kein Witz!
Rock & roll viejuno.
Nettmmm
I know it’s a style of it’s time but half way through album the screaming seemed too much and took away from the song too much.
raw, but from seattle
Belle surprise, bon band et en avance sur le rock punk. J’ai aime tout l’active. 4.25*
2-3 songs dabei, die mir gefallen. Das reicht heute für eine 4.
Amazing album. The drum sound on this album is insane. 8/10 1. Have Love Will Travel 2. Strychnine 3. The Witch
These guys were before their time with this right? 1965! Sounds like they are having fun
Not bad, but ilnot much variation between songs. Definitely got a bit stuck of the screamed “waaaaaahhhhhh!”
60s trash rock at its finest and dumbest. Sublime.
Heerlijke oude garage rock, ook nog wat bekende nummers erbij
Tijdloze rock, ruwe opname. In vergelijking met meer werk uit die tijd zeker wel anders omdat het zo rauw is. Maar blijft toch te voorzichtig om helemaal weg van te zijn.
Good garage rock. British invasion vibes
Very nice garage rock'n'roll. There's a good mix of really good covers of classic rock'n'roll songs and a couple of original arrangements which are plenty good themselves.
3.5 rounded up. Great energy, interesting covers. Glad to learn about these guys!
The Witch is one of the creepiest songs of all time and I GOSHDARN LOVE IT. The Sonics have to be one of the coolest bands of the sixties. Love Gerry Roslie's maniacal rasp as well. I start to lose interest a bit when they cover the Rock n' Roll standards.
I can hear the sixties sound in this album. Had not heard of the gerne 'Garage Rock'. Nice album with a lot of well known covers. Nice to see that all the songs are within the 3 minutes what was "a standard".
Thought this was pretty average even with my time and space context lens on. It's like a really shit version of everything that the Beatles and Kinks were already doing. Strychnine was kind of punk though. Also the cover photo makes them look like a bunch of college boy twats
Undoubtedly a classic. I love some of the songs on this album, but I can't fully enjoy the full embodiment of dad rock that is Guns N Roses. A bit cringey at times
Really enjoyed this, surprisingly! Short and sweet.
makes me want to play it as loud as i can in an actual garage. weird (and great!) to hear ray charles song in this context. fav track: good golly miss molly
Good sounding stuff, something id hear at a diner. Bunch of covers at the end were a treat
Has the 'mashed potatoes' song from Dirty Dancing - is it a cover?
pretty solid but definitely dated, sound is a little dirty
Okay album.
The good: love the use of natural amp distortion on the guitars and the vocals. Some nice blues riffs, drums are cool, covers are good. The bad: basic lyrics on original songs, sound is pretty generic even for the time. Liked the beach boys vibe earlier on but any unique sounds were abandoned later on. I'd love a count on how many screams are on this album. Got tired of them by the 3rd song. Conclusion: average album even for the time. There are a ton of r&b albums before this that are much more original and exciting. A lot of rock albums around the time are also much better The very bad: does this guy have to scream in every fucking song???
I liked it. Lots of classics on this one
This makes me want to dance. It rocks. A really fun album. I did think it was older than it is, I estimated about 1958-9. Most of the album is covers, but that was sort of the done thing back in the day. Fun album, it doesn't need to be analysed too much, just smile and enjoy.
Nice old school music, really energetic. Good music to wake up to, even if you wake up in the PM.
Lots of classics here. This album was pretty great!
Lots of old timey rock songs on this one... already forgot most
these guys are wild
There are definite flaws with this album. The sound quality is terrible and there are far too many standard covers on the album. However, it's easy to hear how this album influenced the punk bands that came after it. It just has that energy that comes with listening to punk music. The original songs are far better than the covers. It's clear just from listening to this that this band would have been amazing live. I wish a good recording of them existed 4/5
punk 60s
Mehh man hör lite början av punk i det
Only a few original songs on this album but good covers too
Good dirty red-lined guitar rock.
Classic rock and roll recognised some of the tracks generally very enjoyable
Not my style
Råt, rock, spade, energi, soloer, garage, 60’er
Super raw, love the sound
Garage rock, but super super early.
First half was funky and intersting, second half was ‘meh’
even though it was all kinda samey sounding and made me wish i was listening to little richard instead i still enjoyed it more than i thought.
9/10, punky, garage, dark, rollicking, scratchy
6/18 OG Punksters, very dated. Standout Tracks: Dirty Robber, Have Love Will Travel, Strychnine
Proto garage rock, a pioneering album
I understand that it’s a classic but could not vibe
is okay, nothing stuck except do you love me which is kinda familiar