"We were a wild, dirty, kickass band!"
The Sonics from Tacoma, Washington were formed in 1963 in the wake of the early 60s success of local favorites the Kingsmen and the Wailers(whose Etiquette label they recorded for).
They combined the classic Northwest-area teen-band raunch with early English band grit (particularly influenced by the Kinks), relentless rhythmic drive, and unabashed '50s-style blues shouting for a combination that still makes their brand of rock and roll perhaps the raunchiest ever captured on wax.
The Sonics started out playing at St Mary's Parish Hall, then Tacoma's Red Carpet teen dance club, Olympia's Skateland, Evergreen Ballroom, Pearl's and the Spanish Castle Ballroom. It was the Wailers bassist, Buck Ormsby that discovered the band as he was out talent scouting for their label, Etiquette Records.
Unlike what was customary in those days the Sonics used to play as loud as possible. One of the semi-legendary stories going around about their recording sessions tells that the Sonics were only satisfied about the studio sound when all VU-meters were continuously in the red, thus driving the technicians to despair.
That energy surely pours out of their classic debut album.rough, aggressive, distorted with sweaty and frantic rock and roll. The songs "(She's a) Witch", "Psycho" and "Strychnine" written by Gerry Roslie were outstanding. For those who are not familiar with the Sonics, the first lines of “Strychnine” give a nice impression of their world: “some people like water / some people like wine / but I like the taste ... / ... of straight Strychnine"
Another important chunk of Seattle rock & roll history. You 'd better not miss this!
Let's Go Get It!
They combined the classic Northwest-area teen-band raunch with early English band grit (particularly influenced by the Kinks), relentless rhythmic drive, and unabashed '50s-style blues shouting for a combination that still makes their brand of rock and roll perhaps the raunchiest ever captured on wax.
The Sonics started out playing at St Mary's Parish Hall, then Tacoma's Red Carpet teen dance club, Olympia's Skateland, Evergreen Ballroom, Pearl's and the Spanish Castle Ballroom. It was the Wailers bassist, Buck Ormsby that discovered the band as he was out talent scouting for their label, Etiquette Records.
Unlike what was customary in those days the Sonics used to play as loud as possible. One of the semi-legendary stories going around about their recording sessions tells that the Sonics were only satisfied about the studio sound when all VU-meters were continuously in the red, thus driving the technicians to despair.
That energy surely pours out of their classic debut album.rough, aggressive, distorted with sweaty and frantic rock and roll. The songs "(She's a) Witch", "Psycho" and "Strychnine" written by Gerry Roslie were outstanding. For those who are not familiar with the Sonics, the first lines of “Strychnine” give a nice impression of their world: “some people like water / some people like wine / but I like the taste ... / ... of straight Strychnine"
Another important chunk of Seattle rock & roll history. You 'd better not miss this!
Let's Go Get It!
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