emmadennis.com

Published on Crawdaddy.com on December 19th, 2007 (Unedited version)
By Emma Dennis

I used to have a very certain idea of what punk was. For a while there, I had it in my mind that true punk was a particular sound from a particular era. It was The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and the Stooges, with their pinned on patches, military boots, slicked back, spiked up, or in-some-way-altered hair, and slightly intimidating form of musical expressionism and political activism.
I took on the attitude that bands of today may sound ‘punky’ but that no one will ever be a true punk again because that was a time, a sound, a movement. Joe Strummer is gone so punk is too. However, quite recently I found myself re-examining this ignorant viewpoint. A man by the name of Tomethy Furse had me taking another look at it and caused me to realize what superficial rubbish this thought pattern of mine really was.
Furse is the bass player for The Horrors, one of these modern day bands I had deemed punky (incidentally, the Horrors are most definitely true punks of today, but that’s another article). During an interview I conducted with him and his band mate, Joshua Third, we touched on his first run in with “punk.”
Furse told me that he too had had a certain notion of the word. Before being exposed to much punk, he had an idea that it was all bands fronted by spiky haired guys with torn up shirts like Richard Hell (The Voidoids, Television) and had the early electric and psychedelic sound of The Electric Prunes, specifically their one hit (which we shall come back to later on) “I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night.”
However, after coming across CBGB’s Birth of US Punk compilation, and hearing the wide array of music it had to offer (not to mention the wide array of front men), Furse came to the enlightened conclusion that punk, true punk anyway, is more of an attitude, or as he put it, “a way of approaching things” rather than a specific band or specific time.
And upon looking at it that way, it made a lot of sense to me. I mean, when you break down what those “original punks” we were trying to do – it seems to be something that could still very much happen and be relevant today. The common thread that connected those bands was that they had a message. Their music was an uncensored and truly expressive vehicle that didn’t need the polished accompaniment of all the bells and whistles of the mainstream music industry.
So, having rethought my definition of the illustrious word, I was very interested to head further back in time than the hay-day of The Clash and The Pistols – back to the ‘60’s – at the time of the first ever garage punk compilation, Nuggets. And, I was equally as curious to see how its descendent album, Pebbles, would stack up to what many had deemed the pinnacle of punk collections.
Nuggets, originally released in 1972 and compiled by Lenny Kaye of the Lenny Kaye Connection and the Patti Smith Group, is a CD featuring 27 different tracks from 27 different artists. And, as I mentioned above, it is an album that has been held in high esteem by music critics and fans alike. However, some say that this notoriety has only been given because of the CD’s status as the first of its kind. It has been argued that other albums (such as the lesser known Pebbles punk compilation) cut much deeper.
Anyway, I figured that the best way to decide for myself, having never heard either, was to do a cold listen of both, side by side (starting with Nuggets of course – as it was the first) and see what difference I could find.
Now, I’d like to take a moment to say that I wasn’t around during to the ‘60’s. I wasn’t even around during the ‘70’s. In fact, I only just managed to be apart of the ‘80’s – arriving early in its final year. As such, I don’t have a great sense of the cultural significance of these two albums. I have of course looked into it, but it’s hard to tell how much a band was pushing the envelope when they played having not been around to experience the impact.
But, quite honestly, I don’t think it matters all that much. My feeling is that when music has the ability to reach out grab you due purely to its raw energy and creative expression, it will be able to do so across any generational gap.
Nuggets didn’t grab me. After hearing about half the acclaimed CD, I found myself quite un-enamored of the genre and very much uninspired to continue. If this was ‘60’s garage punk, the later version was much more exciting.
The album starts of hopefully with the track mentioned earlier, The Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night.” Though lacking any real energy, the song has a nice bit of lyric and some very pleasing electric surf guitar riffs. It’s overall an interestingly catchy and (at least to my ears) original piece. Though I would not call it “punk,” even by my new definition, it is definitely one of the only highlights of the compilation for me.
From there, for the most part, it’s a quick descent into the humdrum of the “average listener” friendly fare.
In an interview he did with NPR, Kaye said that he wanted his creation to be just that: listener friendly and accessible. He would have nothing too obscure and nothing too mainstream. Everything would fall down that dull middle line of safety and produced sound.
Now, as I said, Nuggets does hold a few more gems, but there’s more here to induce boredom than to adore. Out of the dull stream did arise “Hey Joe” by The Leaves, which is comprised of a great guitar riff and spirited vocals delivered by front man, John Beck who finds himself lyrically questioning a man who is wrapped up in the mindset of an angry lover. It’s a song with a great amount of energy and a very dancey feel.
There is also “Don’t Look Back” by The Remains; a catchy and energetic track with a good hook and great harmonies.
But, let’s take a look at the flipside. There are too many songs on Nuggets that outweigh the sprinklings of great tracks to be found. We’ve got “Lies” by The Knickerbockers, which to me seems extremely reminiscent (to a plagiaristic fault) of the Beatles’ sound.
There’s also the Shadows of Knight’s’ track, “Oh Yeah.” In their ambitious attempt to make an interesting song by talking about absolutely anything (incidentally, they succeed with their featured track on Pebbles) the Shadows of Knight come up short here with their ever-so repetitive chorus of “Oh Yeah”s.
But, the worst of the lot has to be the seemingly completely out of place “Sugar and Spice” by the Cryan Shames. This simpery ‘60’s number sounds like it should be on a teenybopper love song compilation rather than a garage punk CD. I’m starting to think that the only prerequisite for songs featured on Kaye’s compilation was that the tracks were at one point in time performed in a garage.
The assemblymen of Pebbles, a small group of Australian collectors, had a much better idea of what they were doing. This rough round the edges, no holds barred, energy packed compilation is a fantastically “punk” listen comprised of the creations of a bunch of so called “mis-fits” of a generation.
This, the first volume in a series of what is now many, was put out in 1979 just a few years after it’s predecessor. Indecently, and as an interesting side note, here is the Pebbles definition of punk, as emblazoned on the back of their liner notes:

Since rock and roll first reared its head from the swamp, each generation has produced its share of geniuses, misfits, poets, jokesters, and mediocrities. Or, if you prefer: a few stars, a host of also-rans, and a strange netherworld of performers with no conceivable commercial potential, yet who possess some quality in their very inadequacy for mass appeal that some find fascinating and compelling. These, we maintain, are in a very real way the supreme voices of the unique pain and vision of their times. They are, in a word, the punks.

A very accurate statement indeed, I must say.
As I said, I didn’t know I was to have such a good reaction to Pebbles. In fact, I wasn’t really all that excited to hear it after my lackluster experience with Nuggets. It was purely in the interest of dedicated journalism that I pressed on, though now I am very happy I did so.
The album’s beginner is an instant burst of energy-packed expression by The Litter. The song is “Action Woman,” as covered by Echo And The Bunnymen at one time. It’s simply a piece of raw bite; untouched voices with a gritty warning for a girl who is in for a little competition for Denny Waite’s (vocals) affection if she doesn’t change her selfish ways.
From there, this multi-facetted album just gets better. There’s the spookily psychedelic song, “The Trip” beginning with a strung-out sounding Kim Fowley declaring “Summertime’s here kiddies, and its time to take a trip.” As the leader of the tripping kiddies, Fowley takes his listener up green mountains surrounding them with purple clouds and flying dogs all with just the order to “lean your head back.”
Directly following this is the almost oriental sounding riff of “Spazz” by the Elastik Band. The singer, whose name I haven’t been able to track down, sounds exhausted by his own energetic output as he deliriously warns against looking like a spazz. It’s a drug-induced romp of a song.
There seems to me to be a wonderfully Jonathon Richman-esque approach to many of the songs on this album. This is in the sense that songs like “Potato Chip” by the Shadows of Knight and “Beaver Patrol” by The Wild Knights show an ability to make a catchy and interesting tune with just about anything for a topic, and the feeling of freedom to do so: from something as mundane as a potato chip to what I’m sure is self-explanatory subject matter on The Wild Knights’ track.
In the spirit of friendly competition, both Nuggets and Pebbles feature a song called “Psychotic Reaction,” each version by a different band. Nuggets has The Count Five performing their original and quite tame cut of the song, while Positevely 13 O’Clock’s version found on Pebbles is an electric bash. It’s screams, electric guitar solos, and sped up-tempo add to the psychotic subject of the song that is much more subdued when performed by The Count Five.
So, there you have it. The experiment is complete, and I must say, it has been an eye opening one. However, after all that has been presented here, it is important to note that this piece is not intended to dismiss Nuggets. On the contrary, it is the perfect album for listeners who want to dip a toe or two into the ‘60’s garage sound pool while keeping their ears in tact and their Barry Manilow albums safely by the CD player. However, for the listeners that enjoy the raw sounds of expressive and energetic mis-fits, a wonderfully pebbly swamp awaits you, swarming with “supreme voices” and their purely punk creations. Jump on in!