Sonics – Psycho

I love classic garage rock music, and this is one of the bands that started that genre. This is why I love it, because it’s raw and unpolished music. Warts and all, it has spirit and drive. 

They formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1960. A  band of teenagers who didn’t care about technique and weren’t interested in following the normal pop/rock rules. They just wanted to be loud and dangerous.

The original lineup, Gerry Roslie, Larry Parypa, Andy Parypa, Rob Lind, and Bob Bennett, came together with one mission: to play harder and wilder than anyone else on the Pacific Northwest scene. The Kingsmen were in this scene as well with their hit Louie, Louie. The Sonics never cracked the national charts, but in the Pacific Northwest, they were very popular. They were on AM radio throughout the area and hit the joints and dance halls. 

Their first album was in 1965 called Here Come The Sonics!!!. The sessions were done at Audio Recording, Inc. in Seattle, a modest studio that had nowhere near the cutting-edge equipment of Abbey Road or other studios. That limitation helped make their sound. Engineer Kearney Barton placed the microphones farther away, letting the room’s natural reverb and bleed create a live sound. Barton sharpened edges rather than smoothing them.  That rough edge is exactly why the song still sounds so alive today. You can put it next to The Stooges, The Ramones, or Nirvana, and it fits right in.

Their debut album, Here Are the Sonics, was released in 1965 and is still a pre-punk landmark. The Sonics reunited in the 2000s with most of the original lineup, playing festivals and recording new material that still carried the old sound. 

Here is a reunited Sonics in 2015

Psycho

Whoa baby, you’re driving me crazyI said baby, you’re driving me crazyOh, well you turn me on, then you shut me downOh well, tell me baby, am I just your clown?PsychoOw, oh wow, baby, you’re driving me crazyI said I’m losing my mind, you treat me so unkindPsychoOw! Whoa!Ow, oh wow, baby, you’re driving me crazyI’m going out of my head, and now I wish I was deadPsychoWhoa baby, whoa you’re driving me crazyI’m going out of my head, now I wish I was deadWhoa, psychoWhoa, psychoWhoa, psychoWhoa, psychoWhoa, whoa

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

41 thoughts on “Sonics – Psycho”

  3. Pingback: Sonics – Psycho – MobsterTiger

  6. Sounds familiar, but I don’t know if it reminds me of something else. I think I would have remembered the screaming. They still had it for the live version. Good basic stuff.

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      2. You are right Jim…they were both from that era. I just searched and couldn’t find anything but I did find an interview by Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins and he was talking about The Sonics and Jimi Hendrix being a huge influence in the area.

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    1. Thank you so much! I know they have a big cult following and I can see why!
      BTW…I haven’t forgot Casablanca…. my son has seen it and he wants to watch it tonight.

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  9. Funny thing is, yesterday you had that 1930s tune that was so futuristic and sounded very late-50s-ish. This one sounds same era ’50s to me. Perhaps too retro for a Rubber Soul-loving 1965 crowd

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    1. Well it was a garage band type of song…like the 13th Floor Elevators back in the 60s. I can hear The Ramones and others in this because it was about simple, catchy, and loud.

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  14. This kind of raw garage rock is totally up my alley. Since “Psycho” immediately sounded familiar, I checked my own blog and found I covered that song as well, in one of my Sunday posts back in December 2021. In October 2022, I also featured “Cinderella,” off their 1966 sophomore album “Boom.” That one’s fun as well! 🙂

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    1. They do have a huge cult following…I see why now. Their songs are just raw and catchy…no polish at all. Christian…that could be where I heard it first on your site.

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  16. Oh yeah; loud, raw, three chord song with full-on vocal chord shredding screams. This is all you need for good timeless Garage Rock. The band still had it in that later clip. And that guy in the pink shirt sure is digging it!

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