Here Are the Sonics

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Here Are The Sonics
Herearethesonics.jpg
Studio album by
the Sonics
ReleasedMarch 1965 (1965-03)
Recorded1964
StudioAudio Recording, Seattle, Washington
Genre
Length28:48
Label Etiquette
Producer
  • Buck Ornsby
  • Kent Morrill
The Sonics chronology
Here Are The Sonics
(1965)		 Boom
(1966)
Singles from Here Are The Sonics
  1. "The Witch / Keep a Knockin'"
    Released: November 1964
  2. "Psycho / Keep a Knockin'"
    Released: 1965
  3. "The Witch / Psycho"
    Released: 1965
  4. "Boss Hoss / The Hustler"
    Released: May 1965
  5. "The Witch / Like No Other Man"
    Released: November 1966
  6. "Psycho / Maintaining My Cool"
    Released: February 1967

Here Are the Sonics is the debut album by American garage rock band the Sonics, released in March 1965. The album features the original songs "The Witch" (a minor regional hit), "Psycho", "Boss Hoss" and "Strychnine", along with an assortment of rock and roll and R&B covers.

Contents

Release

Here Are The Sonics was released in 1965 by record label Etiquette. It was re-released in 1999 by Norton Records. [4]

Music

According to Loren DiBlasi of Paste, the album "scraped off whatever polish rock ‘n’ roll had accumulated and jammed a distorted boogie into the mix behind the deranged squawking of Gerry Roslie." [5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]
Gaslight RecordsStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]

Cub Koda of AllMusic wrote that the album "show[s] a live band at the peak of its power, ready to mow down the competition without even blinking twice", calling it "Another important chunk of Seattle rock and roll history." [6]

Loren DiBlasi of Paste Magazine said: "The Sonics didn’t just point the way toward a louder, more chaotic rock sound with their debut; they also helped define how a garage rock album was made, with limited mics and lots of bleed congealing into a primordial stew of barely controlled commotion. It added up to a pre-cursor to just about every style of late 20th-century rock ’n’ roll, including punk, post-punk and grunge." [5]

The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [9]

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Witch"Gerry Roslie2:41
2."Do You Love Me" Berry Gordy, Jr. 2:19
3."Roll Over Beethoven" Chuck Berry 2:49
4."Boss Hoss"Roslie2:24
5."Dirty Robber" (The Fabulous Wailers cover)John Greek, Kent Morrill, Rick Dangel2:03
6."Have Love Will Travel" Richard Berry 2:38
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Psycho"Roslie2:18
2."Money (That's What I Want)"Gordy, Jr., Janie Bradford2:01
3."Walking the Dog" Rufus Thomas 2:46
4."Night Time Is the Right Time"Lew Herman2:58
5."Strychnine"Roslie2:13
6."Good Golly Miss Molly" John Marascalco, Robert Blackwell 2:09
Reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Keep A-Knockin'" Perry Bradford 1:56
14."Don't Believe in Christmas" (patterned after "Too Much Monkey Business" by Chuck Berry)Roslie1:47
15."Santa Claus" (contains elements from "Farmer John" by The Premiers)The Sonics2:52
16."The Village Idiot" (cover of "Jingle Bells") 2:39

Personnel

The Sonics

Technical

References

  1. ↑ The following sources describe the album as garage rock:
    • Masley, Ed. "10 essential garage-rock albums". AZCentral. The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
    • Sharp, Johnny (August 28, 2019). "10 Essential Garage Rock Albums". Classic Rock . Retrieved November 16, 2024.
    • Mark Deming. "The Sonics | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved December 31, 2024. In 1965, Ormsby rushed the Sonics into the studio to cut a full-length album, and Here Are the Sonics!!! was a garage rock touchstone, a loud and relentless slice of primitive thunder that caught the band at its hot-wired peak,...
    • Potter, Jordan (July 31, 2024). "Five Easy Masterpieces: an introduction to garage rock". Far Out . Retrieved March 21, 2025.
    • DiBlasi, Loren (January 29, 2018). "The 50 Best Garage Rock Albums of All Time". Paste . Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  2. ↑ Stocks, Matt (October 2, 2014). "Vinyl Treasures: The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics". Classic Rock (Louder) . Retrieved January 20, 2025.
  3. ↑ "What is proto-punk? A guide to the genre in five records". Beat Magazine . March 31, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2024.
  4. ↑ Gensler, Andy (April 3, 2015). "The Sonics on Releasing First Album Since 1966: 'It's a Different Universe'". Billboard . Retrieved January 29, 2025.
  5. 1 2 DiBlasi, Loren (January 29, 2018). "The 50 Best Garage Rock Albums of All Time". Paste . Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  6. 1 2 Koda, Cub. "Here Are The Sonics!!! – The Sonics | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics!!! | Album Review | - Gaslight Records". Gaslight Records. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  8. ↑ Mulholland, Garry (April 2007). "The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics". Q (249): 128.
  9. ↑ ^ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN   978-0-7893-2074-2.
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