Monks - Black Monk Time

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release
Soundclips

5...according to our Brett on Fri 12 Jun, 2009.

It's beat time! It's Monk time! After years of reading Mark E. Smith banging on about them and wongly assuming that The Monks would be just another cool 60s garage band I finally checked them out a few months back at Brian's suggestion and I'm glad I did because Black Monk Time is 3000% amazing! These dudes went to Vietnam and ended up forming a beat combo in Germany which eventually evolved into the funny haircuts and gimmicks that give them quite a solid claim for being one of the first conceptual art rock bands.. Not that that's all they have to offer, their good-time anti-war stance overall sound are equally extraordinary with more raw bite than you'd assume possible for a record made during the era. Extraordinary stuff and if you've any interest whatsoever in bands like The Sonics, The Seeds or the myriad one-'hit' wonders featured on the Pebbles or Nuggets series' then this is an easy recommendation.. The double LP's a bit of a hefty price but it's a lovely package, with a heavy duty tip-on gatefold sleeve and extensive notes on the insert. If that's overkill then the CD looks tasty enough!

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* EACH CD RELEASE INCLUDES:
- Bonus Tracks, 36-pg deluxe booklet feat. in-depth notes, interviews with band, lyrics, and trove of unseen photos
- Limited Edition Vinyl LP features 180 gram wax, gatefold hand-numbered old school tip-on jacket, lyrics, and notes.

* COMMENTS:
- "Monastic Madness - Hard Driving Garage Rock!" - KRIST NOVOSELIC, NIRVANA
- "This is a damned enjoyable slightly kinky 60ís garage record. This may be the only legitimate anti-war rock group to come out of the 60ís, as these are the only guys who actually joined up." - IGGY POP
- "Their melodies were pop destructive and must be played to your younger brother."- JACK WHITE, THE WHITE STRIPES

- "The Monks will always be a great band because their look and sound is shockingly new, and you can hear their influence across the decades." - COLIN GREENWOOD, RADIOHEAD
- "I donít want to live in a world without the Monks." - ANTON ALFRED NEWCOMBE, BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE

* Today, "garage," "psych," and "punk" are three overused words to say the least. Theyíre dropped from every direction to brand, market, and sell, but looking back to the mid-1960s, there was only one group of musical mavericks that clearly defined them. The Monks were five beat playing American GIs stationed in Germany who, after their discharge, decided to stay and continue their musical mission. Meeting up with a team of local managers, they transformed themselves and their sound into a holy racket like the world had never known. This five-person order literally birthed the above genres through a fuzz-drenched evolution of sound, bursting with social commentary and future primitive rhythms. Krautrock? It started here. Do we hear non-believers? We are NOT making this up.

* Light In The Attic is ecstatic to present the Monks recorded legacy through two lavishly packaged and lovingly researched reissues (available on CD, LP, and digital download): The Early Years 1964-1965 as well as their landmark studio album Black Monk Time. Numerous period photographs (many unseen) and an extensive two-part essay by Canadian music journalist Kevin Howes (Jamaica-Toronto series) accompany both releases and tell the Monks story like it has never been told. Bonus material dating back to pre-Monks Torquays and up to post Black Monk Time 7"s are also included. From "Shut Up" to "Boys Are Boys", "Complication" to "Cuckoo," worlds will collide before you very eyes. Press play, drop the needle, zone in, and see for yourself.

* TRACKLIST for Black Monk Time: 1) Monk Time 2) Shut Up 3) Boys Are Boys And Girls Are Choice 4) Higgle-Dy - Piggle-Dy 5) I Hate You 6) Oh, How To Do Now 7) Complication 8) We Do Wie Du 9) Drunken Maria 10) Love Came Tumbliní Down 11) Blast Off! 12) Thatís My Girl Bonus Tracks: 13) I Canít Get Over You 14) Cuckoo 15) Love Can Tame The Wild 16) He Went Down To The Sea 17) Pretty Suzanne 18) Monk Chant (Live)

* TRACKLIST for The Early Years: 1) Monk Time 2) We Do Wie Du 3) Boys Are Boys 4) Pretty Suzanne 5) Higgle-dy Piggle-dy 6) Hushie Pushie 7) Love Came Tumbliní Down 8) Oh, How To Do Now 9) Space Age 10) I Hate You Bonus Tracks: 11) Boys Are Boys 12) There She Walks