Be a caveman

I honestly don't remember which of these albums I bought first (I've got about six) or who suggested it to me but the Pebbles compilations have provided some of my most enduring favourites. Possibly what makes a lot of these songs so good is that it was often the bands' one and only chance to record anything, in withering contrast to the career rockers of now. I'm not a fan of lo-fi just for the sake of it and some tracks with better production would cross from good to amazing ("Love at Psychedelic Velocity" and "Suzy Creamcheese" for two). I suppose people who don't like this music and describe it as amateur are saying that the bands can't play their guitars very well. I think that that is missing the point and in the case of songs such as "Going All the Way", "Good Times" and "Hate" (by The Stoics, my absolute favourite) the playing is awesome.

The cover here spoke to me sartorially, tonsorially, I even had a pair of those boots. I'm not sure I quite lived up to the primitive ethos (my girlfriends of the time might disagree). One of my then friends on the other hand really did live and look like a caveman. Too wasted once to walk home from a party on the other side of town he broke into a car and slept on the back seat. It was chilly the next morning so he tore a furry car seat cover off and wore it as a top. For weeks. The caveman look went out when he discovered he had lice and shaved all his hair off. The new skinhead called for a change of jacket and was matched with a belted black leather carcoat. Now he looked like a fascist. It was always a laugh going clubbing with him. God knows where he is now.

You can find the whole thing over at Snap, Crackle & Pop but I've put one of my favourites below. And that Left Banke track I was talking about the other day.

The Haunted: 1-2-5

The Haunted did actually have a bit of a career. I bought one of their albums excited at the prospect of more tracks of the calibre of 1-2-5 but it was poor. The best track was a Hendrix cover "Vapeur Mauve" (they were from Quebec) which is more interesting than it is rocking.

The Left Banke: Evening Gown