STOOGE YOUR ENTHUSIASM (19)
By:
November 25, 2023
One in a series of 25 enthusiastic posts, contributed by 25 HILOBROW friends and regulars, on the topic of proto-punk records from the Sixties (1964–1973, in our periodization schema). Series edited by Josh Glenn. Also check out our proto-punk playlist (a work in progress) at Spotify.
THE SONICS | “STRYCHNINE” | 1965
The Sonics were a regular background presence throughout the Puget Sound area when I began to pay attention to music in the late ’70s. The original members still played here and there — some still under the band name, others in different, short-lived groups — and when my friends and I made tapes of whatever seemed crucial at the time there would always be a Sonics cut or two thrown into the mix. Without exception, despite being a decade and a half old — practically Jurassic, in pop music terms — the edgy immediacy of those songs meant they fit in seamlessly.
The group is frequently lumped in with The Kingsmen as a “Northwest garage band,” which… all right, fine. But also, the NME once described The Clash as “the kind of garage band who should be speedily returned to their garage, preferably with the engine running.” Putting those bands next to each other on a cassette, it was impossible not to hear the overlap. However at odds with their time, what The Sonics were doing in 1965 remained powerful and real.
The Sonics are certainly not The Clash (certainly they’re not political), and many of their songs have some sketchy element, whether it’s the misogyny underlying “The Witch” or “Psycho,” or the exuberant nihilism fueling their first record’s stand-out track, “Strychnine.” The song is nothing if not confident. From its playful opening notes of camp-horror, “Strychnine” immediately swings into a swaggering groove. Gerry Roslie’s harsh vocals evoke a kind of Hell’s Angel lifestyle of self-destruction, maybe ridiculous, but also genuinely daunting. Indeed, the setting conjured up by the song is less guys-in-a-garage so much as guys-best-not-to-fuck-with-in-a-biker-bar (the sentiment behind “Strychnine” isn’t far at all from something like Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades”). Some of this is because, despite this being mid-’60s rock and roll, neither the musicians nor what they’re playing ever seem particularly young. While the raw sound of “Strychnine” casts a strong shadow toward punk, so equally does its lack of optimism or affirmation.
“No Future” in the reign of Thatcher seems obvious in retrospect. For The Sonics it’s the middle of LBJ’s Great Society. Why not drink poison?
STOOGE YOUR ENTHUSIASM: INTRODUCTION by Josh Glenn | Mandy Keifetz on The Trashmen’s SURFIN’ BIRD | Nicholas Rombes on Yoko Ono’s MOVE ON FAST | David Cantwell on ? and the Mysterians’ 96 TEARS | James Parker on The Modern Lovers’ SHE CRACKED | Lynn Peril on The Pleasure Seekers’ WHAT A WAY TO DIE | Lucy Sante on The Count Five’s PSYCHOTIC REACTION | Jonathan Lethem on The Monkees’ YOUR AUNTIE GRIZELDA | Adam McGovern on ELP’s BRAIN SALAD SURGERY | Mimi Lipson on The Shaggs’ MY PAL FOOT FOOT | Eric Weisbard on Frances Faye’s FRANCES AND HER FRIENDS | Annie Zaleski on Suzi Quatro’s CAN THE CAN | Carl Wilson on The Ugly Ducklings’ NOTHIN’ | Josh Glenn on Gillian Hill’s TUT, TUT, TUT, TUT… | Mike Watt on The Stooges’ SHAKE APPEAL | Peter Doyle on The Underdogs’ SITTING IN THE RAIN | Stephanie Burt on Pauline Oliveros’s III | Marc Weidenbaum on Ornette Coleman’s WE NOW INTERRUPT FOR A COMMERCIAL | Anthony Miller on Eno’s NEEDLES IN THE CAMEL’S EYE | Gordon Dahlquist on The Sonics’ STRYCHNINE | David Smay on The New York Dolls’ HUMAN BEING | Michael Grasso on the 13th Floor Elevators’ YOU’RE GONNA MISS ME | Holly Interlandi on Death’s ROCK’N’ROLL VICTIM | Elina Shatkin on Bobby Fuller’s I FOUGHT THE LAW | Brian Berger on The Mothers of Invention’s WHO ARE THE BRAIN POLICE? | Peggy Nelson on The Kingsmen’s LOUIE LOUIE.
JACK KIRBY PANELS | CAPTAIN KIRK SCENES | OLD-SCHOOL HIP HOP | TYPEFACES | NEW WAVE | SQUADS | PUNK | NEO-NOIR MOVIES | COMICS | SCI-FI MOVIES | SIDEKICKS | CARTOONS | TV DEATHS | COUNTRY | PROTO-PUNK | METAL | & more enthusiasms!