Yet another compilation of undeservedly obscure rock howlers
Casey Scott | 06/06/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The PEBBLES series, which doesn't really pick up speed until Vol. 7 (CHICAGO VOL. 2, which Amazon doesn't carry for some reason but is essential listening), continues with SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, gathering together rare 45 singles and acetates of garage bands and high school rock groups from Sacramento to San Diego, with plenty of small towns hit in-between. 2 of the songs, "Knock Knock" by The Humane Society (without a doubt one of the best unheard songs of the 60s) and "Hold Me Now" by The Rumors (which I dare you not to rock out to), are included on the NUGGETS boxed set, but they're surrounded by so many amazing gems here that this volume simply cannot be passed over.Terry Randall's anti-riot anthem "S.O.S." kicks off the album with a bang; this is one dark little mother of a single, half-sung, half-spoken by an unknown artist. Of the 25 songs, the highlights are: The Starfires' "I Never Loved Her", The Grains of Sand's "She Needs Me", The Cindermen's "Don't Do It Some More", The Colony's "All I Want", The Cloudwalkers' "Sunglasses", The Beckett Quintet's "No Correspondence", The Dovers' "She's Not Just Anybody", Sean and the Brandywines' "She Ain't No Good", The Rogues' "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (the guitar work is very similar to that of "Hey Joe"), The Last Word's "Sleepy Hollow", The Green Beans' "Who Needs You", Limey and the Yanks' "Guaranteed Love" and "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" (a cover of a terrific single by New York City's Bit-A-Sweet, which has never been available reissued) are all singles which should have been national hits, blowing anything by The Dave Clark Five or Herman's Hermits out of the water. Not every song is a bonafide classic, but they're all sterling examples of what makes 60s garage rock a highly sought-after subgenre of classic rock."
Garage-rocking brilliance from SoCal!
Laszlo Matyas | 06/22/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Released after two somewhat dissapointing volumes that focused on the Chicago garage rock scene, the 8th CD installment of the Pebbles series is a welcome return to form. Gone are the mediocre, uninteresting, and occasionally flat-out awful songs that marred the two previous discs-this album is crammed full of fun, exciting, and ultra-obscure mid-60s rockers from Southern California.
Some of these songs are among the best garage rock records ever. The Dovers' "She's Not Just Anybody" should have (and could have) been a chart-topping smash. It is, simply put, a masterpiece, a haunting, emotional burst of chiming guitars and dreamy vocals, bolstered by a relentless river of percussion. The Starfires' tense, throbbing "I Never Loved Her" is almost as good. Same goes for "She Needs Me," a hypnotic fuzz rocker courtesy of the Grains of Sand. The Rumors' "Hold Me Now" is positively anthemic, thanks to its rousing, "Louie Louie"-inspired melody and exuberent vocals. The Cindermen's "Don't Do It Some More" is a relentlessly catchy twist rocker that features a wonderfully off-the-wall guitar solo. Terry Randall's "S.O.S." is a spooky, paranoid protest tune with a subtle, smoldering lead vocal and a churning rhythm. The Gigolos' "She's My Baby" is a storming, double-time punk-rocker with a strong rockabilly influence, and the Humane Society's "Knock Knock" is a fiery, snarling tune with some thorny guitars. The Cloudwalkers' "Sunglasses" is insanely cool, and the Bush provide a fantastic version of "Got Love if You Want It" that features some compact but explosive rave-up sections. The Green Beans' "Who Needs You" is every bit as sneeringly sarcastic as its title suggests, and The Beckett Quintet's "No Correspondence" is a quietly insane bouncer with an anthemic chorus. The Caretakers of Deception close out the album with driving "X+Y=13."
The afformentioned tunes are only a few of the highlights of this spectacular disc, one of the finest entries in the entire Pebbles series. Your garage collection isn't complete without this one."
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1