Customer Reviews

Don't Press Your Luck: In Sound of 60's

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It's the kind of thing that could only happen in the mid-60s: A successful, tie-wearing, middle-aged dentist with absolutely no experience in the music business gives up his tooth-scraping gig and creates a record label. It may not seem very likely, but that's the genesis of Trod Nossel Studios, one of the coolest rock factories ever to spring up in New England. This disc, which surveys Trod's output between 1966 and 1968, is a testament to the Connecticut label's supreme hippness and wicked-awesome repertoire. It's full of the kind of teenage aggression and fuzz-toned joyriding that made garage rock so much fun in the first place. And make no mistake about it, this is garage rock. It's a bit more polished than what you'd hear on a Back From The Grave compilation, and not quite as colorful and irreverent as the highlights of the Pebbles series, but its best moments are still full of high school soul and teenaged blues. The Shags, for example, sound great on the title track, which is a raw, moody pop classic. The Lively Ones give the British invasion an electrified run for its money with "Too Many Lies," while Uranus and the Five Moons get slinky and soulful on "'SSS' Happenin' Here." The Wildweeds' "No Good To Cry" is even more soulful, and the bizarrely named Fourth Ryke turn in the stunningly weird suicide anthem "You're Cutting Out." All in all, a more than worthy purchase for anyone who wants to hear some primo garage crunchiness.

By far, the best two cuts on this album are from Uranus and the Five Moons. "SSS Happen'n Here" and "Nothing Remains," written at the Psi U house at Wesleyan in 1966, are brilliant renditions of a classic garage band of the 60's. The vocals are great, and the piano playing is gifted......but the drumming doesn't get any better than that! Oh baby!!

This product is up there with the compilations
of similar taste, good recording quality and
difficult to obtain tunes as Bram Rigg Set's
"I Can't Explain" (for fans of The Who this song
title is familiar). I liked "I Can Only Give
You Everything" by the aforementioned band and
is seen on the Nuggets collection where it
is performed by Van Morrison.
The track I recommend the most is The Shags' "Come
Back To Me" which to me is a garage classic. There
are some so-so tracks here but the album delivers
regularly throughout and makes this worthy to buy.