Customer Reviews

Distortions

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4 star:		(1)
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Since there are a few comments from people who discovered the Litter through Pebbles etc., I thought I would weigh in with the perspective of someone who saw them many times and bought the original vinyl when it first came out. I was fourteen, lived in MN, and the Litter played at the local armory once a month or so for several years. At the time I didn't even know that many of the tracks were covers. The Who? Remember it was three long years before the Woodstock movie would make them HUGE.

The Litter played LOUD. We studied their clothes, we copied their amps - yes, we formed a band. We learned every song on Distortions - the Litter versions! Aside from the ear numbing bliss surrounding their frenzied and pounding performances, I will never forget when Rinaldi appeared one night playing a semi-hollow body Rickenbacker with the body hacked away - leaving just a block of wood and the pickups in tact, but the switches and knobs dangling below - really cool! The music stripped down to the feedback howling essentials. Caplan may have had the chops, but Rinaldi was the guitarded electric soul of the band (and in later years, I think - the last remaining original member). As I recall, their violent pyschedelic explorations were a lot longer in concert - sometimes I'm A Man spinning out of control for more than 15 minutes.

Just thought I would share. My vinyl is still around - beat up and full of pops. I'm glad to have a clear recording of the Litter - the CD is great. BTW - $100 Fine just never captured the band as far out (man). Although it does contain several cool cuts - three or four out of ten? I own worse.

A classic from the 60's resurfaces! Thirteen great tracks of Voxx wah-wah'd guitars and garage grunge blues. "It's the Now Sound... it's what's happening!" The Litter reminds me a lot of Chicago's Shadows of Knight, both in their approach to garage-punk blues, and in Dennis Waite's lead vocals.

This LP is bookended with two of the best tracks ever to appear on Pebbles compilations, the original "Action Woman" (rendered here from the original master tapes, sans the skip that invaded the 7" used to master the Pebbles version), and a screeching cover of "I'm a Man." In between is another excellent original ("Soul Searchin'") which the Pandoras, er, uh, borrowed a riff or two from, and a bunch of great covers, including the Spencer Davis Group's "Somebody Help Me", Buffy St. Marie's "Codine", a couple of Townshend songs ("Substitute" and "A Legal Matter"), Skip James' "I'm So Glad", the Yardbird's "Rack My Mind" and more.

I've never heard a copy of the original LP, so I can't really compare the CD's sound quality to that. There are two bonus tracks on this CD issue, "The Egyptian" and "Blues One", the latter recorded live in Chicago. Overall it's very listenable, though perhaps not the best recorded LP of its era. But it wasn't about the recording technology, it was about the garage, and this one's got plenty of buzzing, vibrating MOPAR muscle parked in it.

With the advent of the Beatles, the British Invasion, and the emerging psychedelic movement, garage bands from all over the country were coming to various small studios to put their ventures on tape for the world to (hopefully) hear. While San Francisco, L.A., and Austin got the bulk of the national exposure, all parts of the country had excellent, if mostly unknown, acts that made top quality music.

The Midwest bands tended to offer a workman's approach to their music, with heavy, riffed guitars, powerful drumming, and lyrics to match. The popular acts from this era, such as the MC5, Stooges, SRC, Frijid Pink, Shadows of Knight, and Del-Vetts, all fell into this category. Many of the bands from Minneapolis also fell in this category- bands such as Calico Wall, Electras, C.A. Quintet, Trashmen...and the Litter.

The Litter formed from 2 bands, the Tabs, and the Victors, and showed incredible promise, as their debut lp, "Distortions," shows. The band, led by vocalist Denny Waite and guitar virtuoso Tom "Zippy" Caplan, showed off their high energy psychedelic chops on this offering, taking on many classic songs, including 2 by Pete Townshend, ("A Legal Matter," and "Substitute") Small Faces, (their brilliant cover of "Whatcha Gonna Do About It") Yardbirds, ("Rack My Mind") Spencer Davis Group, ("Somebody Help Me") and Buffy St. Marie (the oft covered "Codine"), to name most.

The highlights of this lp include the minor cult hit "Action Woman," which was released twice as a single in 1967. (backed 1st by "Legal Matter" as single 6710 on the small Scotty Label, then backed by "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" as Warick single 6712. Both versions in prime condition command great money on the open market) The frenzy of Zippy Caplan and Dan Rinaldi's guitars make this single sizzle from start to finish, and is completed by Waite's snarling vocals. The low end rhythm of bassist Jim Kane and drummer Tom Murray, consistent throughout the lp (save on "Substitute," where they never quite get on track), is also excellent on this track.

The true highlight of the lp is the over the top psychedelic frenzy on the staple "I'm A Man," which offers quite possibly one of the greatest uses of controlled feedback (this side of the Velvet Underground) I have ever heard. Once the jam commences, Caplan and Rinaldi take over the show for the final minute and a half of pure ecstacy. The 2 trade off riffs, blissfully fuzzed out Syd Barrett-esque solos, complete with superb studio effects. Murray's thrashing of his drums only add to the high octane. The track must be heard to be believed. 4 of the greatest minutes of recorded garage music ever.

The band's 2nd lp, the amazing "$100 Fine" would pick up where this debut lp ended and go in wonderful directions, but for my money, "Distortions" is their finest effort, and one of the best psychedelic/garage lps of the era. Prime lp copies of "Distortions" (on the Warrick label, release #671) have been sold for thousands of dollars on the market, both for its groovy cover, as well as the extraordinary music contained within. Why all the hype? Get this lp and find out. An excellently crafted lp and one of the finest lps of its day.

Not that crazy about a number of tracks here: so-so covers. But if you like 'garage' music / 60s punk-psychedelia at all this is a must-have. Two stand-out tracks. Action Woman, an original, also available on the Nuggets anthology, is one of the great lost rock singles. Had there been any justice it would have / could have been a top ten hit.

But the cover of the Yardbirds cover of 'I'm a Man' is even better.

Sean's review has it pegged when he calls this "4 of the greatest minutes of recorded garage music ever." I'll go farther: it may be THE 4 greatest minutes of hard rock, period. The Litter charge through the body of the song at maybe half-again the pace of the Yardbirds already pilled-up version, with much nastier guitar textures and more aggressive playing - - proto-punk in the best sense - - and then comes the freak-out. This extends the Yardbirds' frenzy by quantum leaps, and runs it through more-Townsend-than-Townsend sonic breakdowns on the way to a mutilstage climax that keeps playing 'can you top this' with itself, and winning.

That's the great thing about rock and roll. On the one hand, this record is completely derivitive. Talented as this disc shows them to be, no-one will ever mistake the guys in the Litter for Great Artistes as Clapton and Townsend have oft been annointed. There's no pretense to blues tradition or pop-art intelligence in the Litter's emulation of their Brit-idols. They just go for the Noise, but somehow they get it, and it's beyond perfect. What we hear in the Litter's I'm a Man is not the genius of individuals, but the genius of an art form as a whole, that somehow found an expression of its essence in four-minutes of spirited emulation by some guys you've never heard of from the middle-of-nowhere.

Transcendent.

The Litter is one of thousands of garage bands that dotted this great nation in the 60's. This particular band came from Minnesota. They got kind of psychedelic and vaguely out there....they are not exceedingly different from other bands. But do not let this dissuade you from hearing this wonderful slice of rock and/or roll. They do a better job on "A Legal Matter" than the Who ever did (but ha ha, they screw up "Substitute" worse than anyone else") Pretty solid, and definitely a steal at the price....There are many other songs, a lot of them covers, all of which will fill you with a distinct warm and agitating feeling that will make you want to smash your brains against the wall with glee.

Buy this album...do it for your children.

As a member of the Litter, I can't be very objective. All I can say is that playing like maniacs was liberating, cathartic, crazy and fun. I agree with the above reviewer that playing all those covers shouldn't have worked, but somehow it did. The need to express our adolescent rebelliousness found a perfect channel in this music, if I may say so myself.
Thanks for the kind words.
Denny Waite-(lead vocals)

I can't figure it out. This shouldn't be as good as it is, by all rights. Sure, it has Action Woman on it--and, like most people, I discovered the Litter through exposure to that track on Pebbles and Nuggets--but look at the tracklisting! The rest is (mostly) covers! I mean, that's usually the kiss of death.

And yet it isn't. This is, above and beyond, one of the most energetic, tuneful, aggressive, sloppy, and wonderful albums I've EVER heard. The versions are energetic, yet wonderfully authentic; the sound quality isn't wonderful, but it suits the material perfectly. And unlike some other miscellaneous "raw" 60s stuff I've heard and been a bit disappointed by (Calm Before...some of it was great, but some...), this one delights all the way through. Even if you're not normally a fan of the "rawer" elements of 60s garage/miscellany rock, give this offering from Arf Arf a chance...you'll love it.

These boys are sick and if you have had your brain surgically removed and replaced with a twisted ball of fuzz, then you will love this.

If you're a square, then beware.