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All things Garage Rock


Farin

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another genre I should know more about than I currently do...

what are the best bands and songs in the vast ocean that is Garage Rock?

suggestions from any era or subgenre are welcome, from Garage Rock Revival to Garage Punk or whatever else there might be

:)

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What is garage rock?

I wiki and in terms of contemporary artists it gives me names as diverse as the White Stripes, The Hives, The Vines and The Strokes at one end, and Kings of Leon, Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys and Babyshambles at the other and The Dandy Warhols and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in between. I can't find a common sound. :confused:

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Allmusic defines Garage Rock as:

"...a simple, raw form of rock & roll created by a number of American bands in the mid-'60s. Inspired by British Invasion bands like the Beatles, Kinks, and Rolling Stones, these midwestern American groups played a variation on British Invasion rock. Since they were usually young and amateurish, the results were much cruder than their inspirations but that is what made the sound exciting. Most of the band emphasized their amateurishness, playing the same three chords, bashing their guitars and growling their vocals. In many ways, the garage bands were the first wave of do-it-yourself punk rockers. Hundreds of garage bands popped up around America and a handful of them — the Shadows of Knight, the Count 5, the Seeds, the Standells — had hits, but most were destined for obscurity. In fact, nearly all of the bands were forgotten in the early '70s, but the Nuggets compilation brought them back to the spotlight. In the '80s, there was a garage rock revival that saw a number of bands earnestly trying to replicate the sound, style, and look of the '60s garage bands."

Garage Rock Revival as

"An indie-label movement that emerged in the mid-'80s, garage rock revival bands aimed to recapture the wild, rowdy, raucous spirit of '60s garage rock. Of course, where the original garage rockers were concerned with imitating their favorite British bands, the revivalists imitate the garage bands themselves — so their music was full of fuzz-tone guitar, Farfisa organ riffs, and sneering vocals. Like the similarly timed rockabilly and surf revivals, garage rock revivalists also appropriated the original music's sense of style, self-consciously playing up their personal favorite qualities — toughness, sleaziness, brashness, manic energy, rebellion, party-hearty spirit, what have you. Since it was self-conscious, it was sometimes done with a knowing wink and a bit of exaggeration, but regardless, many of the revival bands shared an underlying assumption that garage rock's virtues embodied the true spirit of rock & roll."

For original garage rock they list bands like Paul Revere and the Raiders, Shadows of Knight and the Kingsmen (whose version of "Louie Louie" is a garage rock standard).

As for garage rock revival bands they cite bands like the Cynics and the Milkshakes though I think what most people think of is the bunch of garage rock/punk bands that emerged in the late 90's/early 2000's such as the aforementioned Vines, Strokes, White Stripes and so on who developed a simple, powerful rock and roll sound with a do-it-yourself punk attitude.

You could check out some best of's from the original garage rock bands and maybe the compilation 19th Nervous Shakedown - Three Milkshakes or Get Our Way - The Cynics (1994) for the revivalists.

As for newer bands some album recommendations:

Elephant and White Blood Cells - The White Stripes,

Highly Evolved - The Vines

Get Born - Jet

Tyrannosaurus Hives and Veni Vidi Vicious - The Hives

Rubber Factory - The Black Keys

Pawn Shoppe Heart - The Von Blondies

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I don't think garage is a correct/official label too :P

or maybe people used to call raw music 'garage rock' in the 60s. But the term got out of use and now everybody's labelling it 'indie' because they don't know anything about the 60s :P

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Nono, I mean technically 'indie' would mean anything not on a major record label - anything on an independent label. But the likes of the Fratellis and the Arctic Monkeys end up being labelled 'indie' anyway for some reason. In that case maybe 'garage' is a more appropriate classification.

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in some (many?) cases that may fit, but you can't replace all 'Indie' labels with 'Garage Rock' - just think of the whole Indie Pop scene (Twee, etc)

PS thanks for the suggestions, Blue Angel, I'll check most of them out - not the White Stripes though ;)

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but the lyrics are often MUCH more in depth ;)

and while the music might be 'not very complex' they usually do have more than 3 chords, and often acoustic instrumentation...

the influences from folk and electronic music can't be denied there

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When I hear "garage rock" I think bands like 13th Floor Elevators (60s) or Dream Syndicate, for instance (there´s so many) in the 80s...

Here´s a wiki list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_garage_rock_bands

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There is an excellent Rough Trade compilation album (2CD) called "Rock'n'Roll Vol.1", which is about as good an anthology of "garage rock" as you'd find anywhere. A bit light on the original 60s protagonists perhaps, but covering the last four decades reasonably impressively.

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I just knew one Fall song (Hit the North) and hadn't considered them as Garage Rock :)

thanks for the links :thumbsup:

My pleasure! The Fall have turned their hand to lots of different styles over their 30 years or so of existence, but "garage rock" has been one relatively consistent and underpinning feature of their oeuvre.

Incidentally, in relation to part of this discussion: there is no way "garage rock" should be seen as interchangeable with "indie". The problem with "indie" is that it has become a lazily abused term over the years and, as such, has become relatively meaningless. It is true however that many of the bands associated with the original "indie" genre (UK 80s) had much in common with the garage rock ethic and means of production, and were influenced by it to a greater or lesser extent. Arguably, The Fall, the Ramones, even the Buzzcocks, were garage rock bands in essence; all were also pretty influential on certain aspects of the 80s UK indie sound and style. Because The Fall seem peculiarly English and have probably had minimal international cross-over appeal (apart from being appreciated by the more discerning of the alt-rock brethren: Sonic Youth, Pavement, etc.), it is probably difficult for the outsider to appreciate their huge influence on UK indie / alternative music. They were John Peel's favourite band and did more radio sessions for his show than any other artist. He (Peel) was the most influential DJ- as far as "alternative music" is concerned- in UK music history. Therefore, odd and relatively (commercially) inaccessible though they were, The Fall were a disproportionately influential band. So: The Fall were a "garage rock" band, and they influenced "indie", but "garage rock" is not "indie" and vice versa.

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"Pretty Baby" - Billy Childish

Check out Billy Childish : a key figure in garage rock since the early 1980s (fronting numerous bands, influencing Kurt Cobain, The White Stripes, etc.)

More from Wild Billy Childish:

"Troubled Mind" - The Buff Medways

"Medway Wheelers" - The Buff Medways

"Joe Strummer's Grave" - Billy Childish & The Members Of The British Empire

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"Misty Lane" - Chocolate Watchband (1967)

"Dirty Water" - The Standells (1966)

"Hey Joe" - The Leaves (1966)

"Help You Ann" - The Lyres (1981)

"All My Feelings Denied" - Thee Headcoats AKA the above-mentioned Billy Childish (1990) (Trouble finding a link for this one.)

"Hate To Say I Told You So" - The Hives (2000)

"Up The Bracket" - The Libertines (2002)

"Get Free" - The Vines (2002)

"10 AM Automatic" - The Black Keys (2004)

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