Our world was post doo-

wop and surf music, it

was the beginning of the

British Invasion, and for

the most part, The Animals,

Stones, and Them, along

with Jimmy Smith, Muddy

Waters, and Howlin Wolf,

were our infl uences. Our

record was a product of

what we had come to know,

and came together on that

August day, could it be

nearly a half century ago?

Garage Rock: n Garage rock is a subgenre of Rock n Roll that dates back

to the early 60s when amateur bands exploded across the

United States. The name comes from the assumption that bands

practiced in suburban garages and were often very crude, but

this belies the fact that they were diverse in their approaches,

ranging from basic one or two-chord wonders to very

professional acts that even had regional hits.

The Pynnacles: n From the music hotbed that is Portland, OR, comes a band of veterans reinventing themselves and the music

that inspired them from that short period between 1965

and 1968. The Pynnacles bring back the vitality of raw,

classic Psych/Garage and are also known for recovering

a time capsule which included a small vinyl disc with an

encrypted message.

Enjoy the sounds and the visuals. This single is absolutely imposing, brilliant.

Thank you, Pynnacles, for finding us.

Alex (Earl) ShackelfordThe Deepest Blue

THE PYNNACLES PLAYTHE What you have here is the latest two-sider from The Pynnacles, a Portland, Oregon-based rock n roll outfit that is deep rooted and inspired by the likes of the 65-68 Top 40/Garage/Psych sound. Top 40, you ask? Keep in mind that this was an era when the Top 40 was infested by British heavy hitters like The Stones, Beatles, and Kinks as well as countless regional US (and Canadian) bands that took their cue from the Brits but took a slightly different turn, creating a sound that was distinctively North American and would be coined a decade later as Garage Rock or 60s Punk. It was not uncommon to see bands like The Count V, Seeds, and Standells in the top 10 throughout that period and, in many cases, ousting the then astronomical Beatles or Stones out of the number one position on the local (regional) charts.

There were literally thousands of bands of this ilk scattered throughout the US and Canada, all of which started out rehearsing in a members garage, got it together, then played the numerous teen clubs (or school dances) that permeated the continent and, on occasion, opened for giants such as the Stones, Animals, or Yardbirds in their hometown. Many of these bands would typically sign to a local record company or press their own singles, then distribute them at their shows and throughout the area via the local record stores. A kid in his junior year in high school could be as big a hero as Mick Jagger if his bands record got airplay on the local waves. Yeahit was a period where cool was cool, and if you werent cool you were nowhere.

Seemingly, the years 65 through 68 made this whole trip a realityrock n roll in its purest teenage form. Dont get me wrongIm heavily into the 70s scene, as well as select kickass rock n roll from later periodsbut around 68, things started getting serious and political, with the teen-soaked vibes basically left out to dry and blow away. The Deepest Blue, a Stones-bent kickass outfit that hailed from Pomona, California, were one of the many happening bands that ruled the roost on the LA scene during said period, and in the summer of 66, they cut one of the most deadly double-sided holy grail masterpieces, Pretty Little Thing b/w Somebodys Girl released on the West Coast homegrown Blue-Fin label (they released one other disc as well, I might add). The A-side was briefly reintroduced to the world back in the early 80s on a bootleg comp called Off The Wall Vol. 2 which is now almost as hard to find as the original 45.

Technically, both numbers are well known amongst hard-core record collectors but not familiar to the general public, and this time in the year 2014 (almost sounds like that Zager & Evans song!) both tracks have been remade, remodeled, and reintroduced to the planet via The Pynnaclesa band of today with many parallels to not only The Deepest Blue, whom they are paying homage to with this release, but in general the ultra-heavy aforementioned period of 1965 to 1968.

Greg Prevost