49. The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics (1965)

1. Witch
2. Do You Love Me
3. Roll Over Beethoven
4. Boss Hoss
5. Dirty Robber
6. Have Love, Will Travel
7. Psycho
8. Money
9. Walkin' the Dog
10. Night Time Is the Right Time
11. Strychnine
12. Good Golly Miss Molly

After listening to this album, all the stuff they said about that Jerry Lee Lewis album seems a tad more ridiculous. These guys make it sound weak and unenthusiastic. In fact, the comparisons made to the Stooges and Sex Pistols would be far more apt if they described these guys, for it is here we delve into the magical world of proto-punk.

'Protopunk' isn't really a genre name, of course, but it serves as a useful retroactive term to refer to a whole bunch of bands in the '60s and early '70s that had a large influence on the punk sound. It most definitely applies here. These guys take the same tried and true rock 'n' roll classics that every other garage band in the world was playing, and play them as loud and as wild as they can. Complete with some awesome screaming. I mean, we've had screams in rock since Little Richard, but in this context they sound absolutely psychotic.

Pretty much all the touchstones of punk are here-simplistic playing, amps turned up to 11, everything louder than everything else...it's all here! They may take their cues from Little Richard rather than the Ramones, but the sound and feel are still there, practically 10 years early. What makes this even more interesting are the original songs, with bizarre lyrics concerning topics ranging from witches to insanity to getting hammered from drinking strychnine. You don't have to stretch too far to see the influence those songs would have on countless bands later on.

The only problem I had with this album was the same bloody covers that were inescapable in those days, but the Sonics are demented enough to make boring old songs sound alive and kicking (Ever been kicked in the eardrums? It's not fun). This album's got what has to be the hardest hitting drum sound that was possible back then, and hopefully gave square parents splitting headaches. It's like a half-hour maelstrom of the early '60s, though this band's influence stretches far longer. 9/10