Here’s one of the most eagerly awaited reissues, by the unsung garage punk heroes from Pittsburgh, making their Vox Super Beatle amplifiers burn, either with fuzz growl or 12-string jangle.
Accompanied with the 20-page booklet, answering all the questions concerning the Swamp Rats, this release provides the complete story … and beyond.
As for the sound itself, though they had only four official single releases, the ‘Rats managed to cover a pretty wide musical range, from the earliest Sonics-influenced sides, with the fuzzed-up versions of Louie Louie and Psycho taken to an extreme, predating the MC5 sound AND attitude by a couple of years, with Bob Hocko sometimes even out screaming Gerry Roslie himself, to the surprisingly soft sounding harmonies of Here, There And Everywhere, making the second single one of the weirdest combinations ever, or the (at the time) unreleased Buffalo-sophistication of I’m Going Home.
Though mostly a covers band, The Swamp Rats sure knew how to add that special kind of a sparkle, making them all classics of their own, like with The Kinks’ She’s Got Everything or The ‘Stones’ It’s Not Easy, and while their take on Till The End Of The Day doesn’t offer anything new, the mix heard here is soooooooo fab, that it almost feels like they’re actually playing in the same room you’re in.
However, the one track that stands out as a possible signature ‘Rats-tune, is the appropriately titled Hey Freak, with it’s funky bass line, followed with an outrageously groovy maracas-leaden rhythm, keeping together all the fuzz’n’buzz.
As a special bonus, you also get three mysterious, mostly acoustic tracks, one recalling Donovan’s most gentler folky moments , one sounding almost like Paul Simon playing a Syd Barrett tune and also a spoken-word protest … song (?!).
Is it just me, or is it really that not only disco, but almost everything else sucks if listened to right after The Swamp Rats?!
[Released by Get Hip 2003]
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