50 Garage Rock Tracks - A Youtube Playlist
May 8, 2016 7:50 AM   Subscribe

Do you like garage bands? Then you might enjoy this Youtube playlist. Artists include The troggs, The Kinks, The Kingsmen, 13th Floor Elevators, The Stooges, MC5, The Sonics, Electric Prunes, King Khan, The Strokes, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Paul Revere and The Raiders, and many more. If you like any of these artists, this might be the Sunday afternoon playlist for you. [Warning - one or two of the videos contain sexual imagery, and one contains violence, and one contains the word mother******]
posted by marienbad (26 comments total) 51 users marked this as a favorite
 
My childhood is now a YouTube playlist.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:01 AM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]




I didn't know the White Stripes and the Strokes are garage bands, but I approve of this playlist regardless (with appropriate additions from jon, of course).
posted by yhbc at 8:27 AM on May 8, 2016


Maybe it's because I grew up with more Back From The Grave than Nuggets, but this playlist is really, really obvious and kind of commercial for the genre. Emphasis on the rock, not so much the garage. Most of these are fairly commercially successful, especially the recent stuff.

No "Rats Revenge"? Where are the Mummies? Where are the Billy Childish bands? The whole Dallas/Fort Worth scene?

The White Stripes are kind of a garage band, but I would never say that about the Strokes. Then again, as I said, I was reared in the Back From The Grave school of 60s garage obscurity. I know this makes me a snob, but it's one of my push button topics in music.
posted by kendrak at 8:32 AM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


I doubt that any member of The Strokes has ever set foot in an actual garage (Is This It still a great album though).
posted by Flashman at 8:41 AM on May 8, 2016


To answer the criticisms: I did not compile this playlist, I just enjoyed listening to it. And I posted it in the hope that others might enjoy it too, and maybe discover that they like garage style music, which could then lead to discovering other garage bands. Feel free to throw in other garage bands people might like, but man, I now wish I hadn't posted it. Mefi sucks, sometimes.
posted by marienbad at 8:58 AM on May 8, 2016 [12 favorites]


Marienbad: I am thrilled that you posted this. I love this music, who cares if it's a perfect list or not? Don't worry about any negative nancys, the internet brings out the worst in people sometimes.
posted by backwards compatible at 9:14 AM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]


I doubt that any member of The Strokes has ever set foot in an actual garage

They came through Seattle several years ago to play at Bumbershoot and one of the members stopped at a garage sale my parents were holding and bought my old Casio keyboard. So at least one of them has been in a garage.

I appreciate this post, and I'm looking forward to listening to it later. It has the Sonics, one of my favorite bands, so already I know it's going to be good. Thanks for posting!
posted by skycrashesdown at 9:14 AM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]


marienbad I'm really sorry to crap on the post. I regretted commenting. This is an area that incites long winded rants from me, which is boorish. Seriously, I screwed up. My apologies.

And just to be positive... here are some of the songs I think it overlooked.

The One Way Streets - "We All Love Peanut Butter" and "Jack The Ripper"

The Chob - "We're Pretty Quick"

Larry & The Bluenotes - "Night of the Sadist"

Bud & Kathy - "Hang It Out To Dry"

Zakary Thaks - "Bad Girl"

The Hides - "Don't Be Difficult"

The Avengers - "Be a Caveman"

The Lincolns - "Pop Kat"

The Us Four - "Alligator"

The Dick Watson 5 - "Cold Clear World"

The Count Five - "Psychotic Reaction"

The Moxies - "Get A Move On"

The Rovin' Flames - "I Can't"

The High Tensions - "Poor Man"

As for the Billy Childish genre... Here's a Chatham/Medway Spotify playlist I made for a friend who loves the White Stripes but never heard Thee Headcoats. It covers as much breadth as possible though misses some of the obscure groups like The Daggermen, The Discords, and The Mindreaders.

I'll work on some 90s/00s stuff after I get rid of family obligations today.
posted by kendrak at 9:16 AM on May 8, 2016 [12 favorites]


Thank you for posting. I spent all of last night browsing old Garage Rock and Jump R&B videos hoping to unearth my next unbeknownst gem, as a matter of fact, so you could not have timed this better for me :)
posted by wats at 9:28 AM on May 8, 2016


I do like garage bands, thanks for asking!
And kendrak, apologies not accepted, because it's comments like yours that bump music posts from nice to awesome.
posted by bigendian at 9:47 AM on May 8, 2016


I did not compile this playlist, I just enjoyed listening to it.

Looks like it was put together by a Spanish rock band, so you're just a unfortunate victim of MetaFilter's good old "someone else's favourite band's favourite bands suck".

For comparison, and since we're in the future, here's a machine curated list (main page) to complain about (includes Farmer John, as well as enough things that aren't garage enough to keep MetaFilter occupied for a week or more :-).
posted by effbot at 9:47 AM on May 8, 2016


so you're just a unfortunate victim of MetaFilter's good old "someone else's favourite band's favourite bands suck"

I don't think it's quite that. I didn't say the Strokes suck, but that I wouldn't consider them a garage band. I get how it comes off that way, but for me it's more an issue of defining a genre though aesthetic qualities.

When I was a teen in the 90s, garage reflected a style of music that was kind of 60s punk. It wasn't just crappy recordings and lots of reverb, but something about speed and attitude. There were bands that kept to the 60s sound faithfully and many who didn't, making it more punk. That's my frame of reference.

I know this is a losing battle though. A lot of kids I talk to love garage and love Ty Segall and The Black Lips and The Growlers and many other bands I like but aren't quite garage to my ear. To them it's more about 60s sounding reverb, a melange of power pop and psych. Many of these kids might like King Khan and BBQ, but many also don't because it's not current enough.

I guess this also highlights the dichotomy of diggers and the samplers. I got into the genre because I loved the Kinks, the Hi-Fives, the Troublemakers, and the Milkshakes and wanted to dig as deep into their influences as possible. 60s garage has wealth to be explored. Lots of people love the hits and don't really need to dig deeper. It's like all the White Stripes fans who don't know Thee Headcoats. That's just human nature.
posted by kendrak at 10:13 AM on May 8, 2016


Hell yeah! I just want to point out that the wibble-wibble sound on track 2—You're Gonna Miss Me Baby by the 13th Floor Elevators—is the electric jug, visible in this video of a live performance.
posted by books for weapons at 10:14 AM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


You can't have a garage band playlist without Chicago's first and only punk band: The Tyrades.


Also, King Khan once puked on my friend's Surfcaster, so fuck him.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:45 AM on May 8, 2016 [2 favorites]


marienbad: great post. Sometimes "what, no ______?" is shorthand for "this list is great, and in that spirit I would like to submit that _____ should be added as well." It's easy when you're the OP to take mock-criticism as criticism, I know. (plus, some people actually are jerks, but not as many as it can seem.)

I actually love it when the mefi thread turns a great list into a super-great one.
posted by ctmf at 11:40 AM on May 8, 2016 [3 favorites]


some of the songs I think it overlooked... The Count Five - "Psychotic Reaction"...

This seemed impossible, for any garage rock set, and it is in fact #7 on the list. Unlike kendrak, I’m more from the Nuggets approach to this stuff (and still have my review copy from when it appeared). I am surprised to be reminded, again, that Nuggets didn’t include Wooly Bully.

[on preview] I actually love it when the mefi thread turns a great list into a super-great one.

One I would include, along these lines, is Pushin’ Too Hard, by The Seeds.
posted by LeLiLo at 12:00 PM on May 8, 2016 [1 favorite]


Kendrak - Please make that a yt playlist!!
posted by marienbad at 12:38 PM on May 8, 2016


Also, apology totally accepted (conditional on making said playlist, and feel free to chuck in any other 60s garage bands you think should be in there! Post it to projects if you really feel like showing it off!)
posted by marienbad at 12:42 PM on May 8, 2016


I would add some Chocolate Watchband. (note: I've just realized they actually appeared on Nuggets, so not totally obscure.)

(Must share recently learned useless vaguely-related obscure music trivia: before they were famous, Karen and Richard Carpenter opened for Steppenwolf;)
posted by ovvl at 1:11 PM on May 8, 2016


Love that version of Jack The Ripper you linked, kendrak. Only heard Screaming Lord Sutch do it before.
posted by comealongpole at 1:39 PM on May 8, 2016


Love King Khan. I can't speak to the authenticity of the garage genre, and I know it's derivative, but it works for me.

Here's a live version of Burnin' Inside, which was on the OP playlist as the studio version.
posted by krinklyfig at 4:13 PM on May 8, 2016


Needs more Sonics! Saw them a couple of years ago, and they blew me away. They're pushing 70 now, but they're still touring. Check them out if you get the chance.
posted by monospace at 5:42 PM on May 8, 2016


Listening to (and enjoying) this playlist right now--thanks! Suggested additions: Lyres and Fleshtones.
posted by Lyme Drop at 9:33 AM on May 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


"this list is great, and in that spirit I would like to submit that _The Cynics_ should be added as well." Anything on "Rock and Roll" would fit right in.
posted by jetsetsc at 11:10 AM on May 9, 2016 [1 favorite]


Errm, no Shadows of Knight "Gloria"?

(To quote a member of SoK, "We got the hit, Van got the money".)
posted by Chitownfats at 9:47 PM on May 9, 2016


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