Here Are the Sonics

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The Sonics

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As kids growing up in the Seattle area in the mid-60's, we had some great bands playing at dances in the roller rinks and lodge halls. We just didn't know it at the time. We had the Kingsmen, The Fabulous Wailers, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Don and the Goodtimes, Marilee Rush and the Turnabouts, and more. We didn't think anyone listened to them outside the Pacific Northwest. Then, the Beatles and the British Invasion came along. It was good stuff, but different. More smooth and polished. Suddenly, out of our little transistor radios came a wild, blasting sound. The Sonics! Hard guitar, screaming vocals, and that whacking snare drum. The Sonics were great on record, and fabulous live - especially considering that we were dancing to them in places like the little up-stairs ballroom at Normana Hall in Everett, WA. Amps turned to 10, Jerry Roslie screaming into the mic, and "Boom Boom" Bennett hammering his drums. It was amazing. Now, reading the reviews on Amazon, I realize that hearing and dancing to The Sonics was experincing rock history. When my kids brought home the Hives CD, I told them, "These guys that listened to The Sonics!" I'm SO pleased that The Sonics are being released on CD.

By the way, if you are interested in the Northwest sound of the early and mid-60's, read "It Was All Just Rock 'n' Roll" by Pat O'Day. He was a very influential disk jockey in Seattle. Reading the book, I kept saying, "I remember that!" And, "I was at that show!" It's a great read.

When the Sonics came roaring out of Tacoma with this 1965 album, the band pulled out all the stops. The Sonics did not care about making pretty love songs or serious artistic statements. They wanted to rock hard and loud and that they did. Lead singer Gerry Roslie screamed his lungs out, drummer Bob Bennett broke his drum pedals, Rob Lind wailed away on his saxophone and the Parypa brothers made sure that the guitar sound was absolutely filthy. The four original tunes on the album are the ones that really shine which are "The Witch", "Boss Hoss", "Psycho" and "Strychnine". The covers rock with abandon but simply do not hold up very well which hurts the quality of the album. The CD reissue from Norton contains three tracks from an Etiquette Christmas album from 1965 which are pretty funny. One of them is the "Too Much Monkey Business" knockoff "Don't Believe In Christmas".