The Fat Angel Sings

The Sonics were an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington that formed in 1960  by teen-aged guitarist Larry Parypa, with the encouragement of his music-loving parents. The earliest lineup included Parypa, drummer Mitch Jaber, and guitarist Stuart Turner; Parypa’s brother Jerry briefly played saxophone, and their mother occasionally filled in on bass at rehearsals. In 1961, Parypa’s older brother Andy became the bass player, and Tony Mabin took over as their new saxophone player.Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on punk and garage music worldwide, and they have been named as inspirations to Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen, the Fall, and other major artists. Rich Koch (who had previously played with the Wailers) joined as lead guitarist, and Marilyn Lodge became their first singer, the band having been an instrumental combo up to that point. A new drummer, Bill Dean, replaced Jaber. Koch and Lodge left the band in 1963. Local star Ray Michelsen became the band’s singer after having sung with several other popular bands on the local scene. Larry began looking for a drummer to replace Dean, who he felt was uncommitted to the band, and found Bob Bennett playing in a band called the Searchers, with keyboardist Gerry Roslie and sax player Rob Lind. Ray Michelsen was looking to leave the band, so the Parypas hired Bennett, Roslie, and Lind, and let their previous saxophonist Mabin go. The well-known lineup was in place, but the Sonics’ career did not begin in earnest until 1964, when Gerry Roslie started singing lead vocals. With Roslie as lead singer, the band started playing gigs

The Sonics are often-cited contenders for the title of “the first punk band,” due to their wild and ground-breaking style. The band also have a clearly marked influence on American punk bands such as the Cramps and the Dead Boys in their brash, menacing style and attitude, and on 1980s grunge bands (who originated in the same area), especially Mudhoney, who adopted some of the darker themes from Sonics music, and a lot of their techniques on over-driving and distorting electric guitars. Their reach stretched beyond the U.S.; influential Manchester post-punk group The Fall covered “Strychnine” during a session for the late John Peel’s programme in 1993 and they repeatedly performed the song live around this time. As well as all these, there have been whole generations of garage rock revival bands (such as The Thingz) who make no bones of plagiarizing The Sonics and their ilk. The early 21st century saw the arrival of another garage rock band that lists the Sonics as a major influence, Eagles of Death Metal. New Zealand power-punk band Cut Off Your Hands have covered “The Witch” several times in concert.

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana said in an interview with Nardwuar the Human Serviette on CITR-FM, discussing drum sounds,”I, I have to admit... The Sonics recorded very, very cheaply on a two track you know, and they just used one microphone over the drums, and they got the most amazing drum sound I’ve ever heard. Still to this day, it’s still my favorite drum sound. It sounds like he’s hitting harder than anyone I’ve ever known.” . The White Stripes named The Sonics as one of the bands that influenced them the most, calling them “the epitome of ’60s punk” and claiming they were “harder than the Kinks, and punk long before punk”

The band performed several early rock standards such as “Louie, Louie”, and “Skinny Minnie” as well as original compositions like “Strychnine”, “Psycho”, and “The Witch”. Their catalogue is generally based around simple chord progressions, often performed with a speed and tonal aggression that was novel for the time, making the band a notable influence on later punk rock bands.

Their first single was “The Witch” (with Little Richard’s “Keep a-Knockin'” as the B-side) in November 1964. The record was immensely popular with local kids, and went on to become the biggest selling local single in the history of the Northwest despite its radio airplay being restricted because of its bizarre subject matter.

Early in 1965 Etiquette released the Sonics‘ debut “Here Are The Sonics”, which was produced at Audio Recording in Seattle, Washington with famed Pacific Northwest recording engineer Kearney Barton. It was recorded on a two-track tape recorder, with only one microphone to pick up the entire drum kit. It was here that they began to pioneer some of their infamously reckless recording techniques. A second album, “Boom”, followed in February 1966. During the recording, the Sonics ripped the soundproofing off the walls at the country and western-oriented Wiley/Griffith studio in Tacoma to “get a live-er sound.” The covers of both albums feature the moody photography of Jini Dellaccio.

Their heyday began to come to a close when the band transferred to Jerden Records in late 1966, and headed to Hollywood to record the poorly selling album “Introducing the Sonics” with Larry Levine at Gold Star Studios. Although it has been rumoured that Jerden executives pushed the Sonics into a more polished sound, the band itself had decided to follow new influences in modern music, resulting in songs that were quite different from their raucously early recordings. The band, however, was not satisfied with the material on Introducing the Sonics, calling the cleaner, slicker recordings “the worst garbage.”

Here Are The Sonics!!

At the time of its release, “Here Are The Sonics” made very little noise of the group’s home state of Washington – but within said home state, the Sonics themselves were making enough noise to blow down every brick wall between Tacoma and Torrance, California. Seldom has a group ever been better named. The youthful aggression in their music, coupled with singer Gerry Roslie’s ‘80 razorblades-a-day’ vocal attack and a selection of overwhelmingly brilliant riffs that underpinned some of the most wildly recorded music ever to be committed to tape, should have made the Sonics one of the biggest groups the world has ever known or heard. Instead they went on to become celebrated by generation after generation of collectors, and other young people with an urge to rock ‘n’ roll.

The overwhelming importance of tracks like “The Witch”, “Psycho” and “Boss Hoss” has provided a template for countless groups who’ve come up in their wake, and who have achieved a level of commercial success that they could never have achieved without the inspiration (direct or spiritual) of the Sonics – fellow Pacific North-Westerners Kurt Cobain’s Nirvana and their successor the Foo Fighters being, perhaps, the most obvious examples.

Here Are The Sonics, exactly as seen and heard 42 years ago on its original Etiquette pressing – albeit in a smaller-sized package, of course! Its tingling mix of group originals and sonic – in every sense of the word! – shreddings of Hall Of Fame rock’n’roll classics (including their recently-used-in-a-car-ad decimation of Richard Berry’s Have Love, Will Travel) remains the musical equivalent of sticking your finger in a live light bulb socket for 25 minutes. Its contents, like all good rock‘n’roll, will never date or die.

Boom

We follow or recent reissue of “Here Are The Sonics!” with a 180g black vinyl replica of “Boom”, the band’s second album. Originally released in 1966 on Etiquette Records in wonderful mono, “Boom” still does much more than merely deliver on the promise of their debut. Few records have ever packed as much of a musical punch from start to finish, offering a representation of what the Sonics must have sounded like at the peak of their powers. Recorded in the most glorious no-fi you could ever wish for, and with anthemic originals such as ‘Cinderella’ and ‘He’s Waitin’’ vying for attention with what is possibly the most violent version of ‘Louie Louie’ there will ever be, “Boom” is an album that has always justified the esteem in which it is held by collectors around the globe. All the modern bumph like barcodes and whatnot is on a disposable sticker, leaving your copy of “Boom” as original as possible.

Now that enough time has elapsed for listeners’ heart rates to come back to normal, we are more than merely pleased to add the Sonics second album – the entirely appropriately entitled “Boom” – to our ever expanding range of Hip Pocket titles.

Most bands down the years have tended to work off much of their initial youthful aggression on their debut album. Come album two, an amount of mellow has likely as not crept into the proceedings, along with an increased musical professionalism. Not so the Sonics. Not content with being able to play in their hometown of Seattle and to be heard in Sacramento without the aid of amplification, they upped the pressure and the volume to an extent where they could probably be heard south of San Diego without the benefit of a prevailing wind.

“Boom” still does much more than merely deliver on the promise of their first Etiquette album, “Here Are The Sonics”. Few records have ever packed as much of a musical punch from start to finish. Even more so than their first album, it offers a representation of what the Sonics must have sounded like ‘in the dance’ at the peak of their considerable powers.

Here it is, issued in its original format for the first time on a UK CD, to make the Hip Pocket series even hipper…

Psycho-sonic

Back in the mid-1960s, the legendary Sonics took rock’n’roll by the scruff of the neck and thrashed it to within an inch of its sorry life, leaving a legacy of some of the most savage, visceral recordings ever made. Compiling their no-holds-barred Etiquette sessions, “Psycho-Sonic” is the ultimate Sonics anthology.
One of the best selling Big Beat releases of recent years has been Psycho-sonic , a comprehensive collection of all the sides the much-feted kings of garage rock recorded for the Etiquette label in 1964/65. Only the most cloistered of music fans would be unaware of the mighty Tacoma combo’s influence and importance, now stronger than ever thanks to young bucks such as the White Stripes, Hives, Vines etc constantly dropping the band’s name. With access to first generation tapes uncovered by Big Beat’s ongoing celebration of the catalogue of Sonics’ mentors, the Wailers, we gave this compilation a spring clean back in 2003, this month we have given the cover a refresh.

Psycho-sonic features many tracks presented in ear-blistering true stereo remixes, taken from the actual tape the band recorded onto, and mastered with Big Beat’s customarily sensitive mastering.
The set’s sequencing and flow deliver an entertaining and invigorating programme from start to finish. Track for track, the first half-hour of this disc is the wildest, most visceral rock’n’roll listen you’re ever likely to have. Also included is an in-depth overview of the group’s career by reissue producer Alec Palao, based on, first-hand interviews with the band and their associates, including the legendary Sonics’ lead singer/ songwriter/ screamer Jerry Roslie. The package also includes a feast of unseen outtakes from the band’s famed photo sessions – photographer Jini Dellaccio granted us full access to her incredible archive of Sonics pictures. Plus the usual memorabilia and label shots.

The original band fell apart between 1966 and 1968, with members leaving to attend university or join other bands; saxophonist Rob Lind became a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. Eventually, all of the original members left, with new members continuing on with the name Sonics (later ‘Jim Brady and the Sonics’) until 1980, although it was a completely different band, at times even incorporating string and horn sections.