you are right. the question was poorly worded and definitely not clear.  sorry and just forget  the whole thing. we apologize for wasting everyone's time.

joey fuckup said:

Well, maybe you should have titled this discussion "How would you guys define garage"? You said you were not looking for a definition, yet your discussion header clearly was "What is garage music?" Um, so isn't that an invite for people to reply with "definitions"?

DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

mr fuckup. we were not looking for a definition of garage  music. we are not newcomers to it. as we stated 40 times we are just interested in hearing other peoples "personal" meanings of the term. you can get into some very nasty arguments about what constitutes "real" garage versus "hipster" garage etc ad infinitum. that isn't what we wanted to do. we wanted to find out what people personally think of when the term garage rock is brought up. we did not want to argue. WE JUST WANTED TO LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLES IDEAS!!!! that seems to be a really fucking radical concept around here. don't tell us we should be satisfied with hearing a few ideas. only we know when we are satisfied.

joey fuckup said:

I think you've been pointed in the right direction on where to find "garage" (um, here on the Hideout, the comps, many of the bands on here). Garage can be far reaching on musical borders, so just go listen and see if that gives you a clue. Honestly, with garage (in my opinion), you either "get it" or you don't. Just like a lot of people I am around every day, they don't "get it", and they never will. Instead of trying to "define" and dissecting what garage is, just go see if you "get it". Why is it so important that you need a definition for the term? Just go listen to the music and enjoy it...It really isn't that complicated...

Well, maybe you should have titled this discussion "How would you guys define garage"? You said you were not looking for a definition, yet your discussion header clearly was "What is garage music?" Um, so isn't that an invite for people to reply with "definitions"?

DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

mr fuckup. we were not looking for a definition of garage  music. we are not newcomers to it. as we stated 40 times we are just interested in hearing other peoples "personal" meanings of the term. you can get into some very nasty arguments about what constitutes "real" garage versus "hipster" garage etc ad infinitum. that isn't what we wanted to do. we wanted to find out what people personally think of when the term garage rock is brought up. we did not want to argue. WE JUST WANTED TO LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLES IDEAS!!!! that seems to be a really fucking radical concept around here. don't tell us we should be satisfied with hearing a few ideas. only we know when we are satisfied.

joey fuckup said:

I think you've been pointed in the right direction on where to find "garage" (um, here on the Hideout, the comps, many of the bands on here). Garage can be far reaching on musical borders, so just go listen and see if that gives you a clue. Honestly, with garage (in my opinion), you either "get it" or you don't. Just like a lot of people I am around every day, they don't "get it", and they never will. Instead of trying to "define" and dissecting what garage is, just go see if you "get it". Why is it so important that you need a definition for the term? Just go listen to the music and enjoy it...It really isn't that complicated...

mr fuckup. we were not looking for a definition of garage  music. we are not newcomers to it. as we stated 40 times we are just interested in hearing other peoples "personal" meanings of the term. you can get into some very nasty arguments about what constitutes "real" garage versus "hipster" garage etc ad infinitum. that isn't what we wanted to do. we wanted to find out what people personally think of when the term garage rock is brought up. we did not want to argue. WE JUST WANTED TO LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLES IDEAS!!!! that seems to be a really fucking radical concept around here. don't tell us we should be satisfied with hearing a few ideas. only we know when we are satisfied.

joey fuckup said:

I think you've been pointed in the right direction on where to find "garage" (um, here on the Hideout, the comps, many of the bands on here). Garage can be far reaching on musical borders, so just go listen and see if that gives you a clue. Honestly, with garage (in my opinion), you either "get it" or you don't. Just like a lot of people I am around every day, they don't "get it", and they never will. Instead of trying to "define" and dissecting what garage is, just go see if you "get it". Why is it so important that you need a definition for the term? Just go listen to the music and enjoy it...It really isn't that complicated...

I think you've been pointed in the right direction on where to find "garage" (um, here on the Hideout, the comps, many of the bands on here). Garage can be far reaching on musical borders, so just go listen and see if that gives you a clue. Honestly, with garage (in my opinion), you either "get it" or you don't. Just like a lot of people I am around every day, they don't "get it", and they never will. Instead of trying to "define" and dissecting what garage is, just go see if you "get it". Why is it so important that you need a definition for the term? Just go listen to the music and enjoy it...It really isn't that complicated...

60s punk is nice. but it would seem to describe only part of the genre.

don't you think the term rock and roll is pretty meaningless today unless you attach a long train of adjectives?

so greg shaw says he invented the term?

TK said:

here's where the term originated (from a Greg Shaw interview). maybe this will help:

This is tricky, because since the late '50s at least one heard about musicians and bands who practiced in garages in the suburbs. In the '80s, metal bands thought they came from the garage. Maybe some of them still do. Then of course there are all the insane new meanings that have been attached to the word by house music and (more recently) world music folks.

Nevertheless, there was a moment in history when I sat down and had a conversation with myself. Guys like me and Lenny and Lester etc had been talking about "punk" in terms of '60s bands since Dave Marsh coined the usage in his Question Mark article in Creem in 1969 (I'm glad that was finally settled!). But by 1976 it was very clear that the word "punk" was going to start meaning something else to a whole lotta people, and as I was actively writing about and working with "'60s punk rock" I felt it would be better to have a less confusing monicker. I decided on "garage rock" and I think I even wrote an essay or a liner note or something explaining why. Thenceforth I used it exclusively in all my efforts.

Of course there are no rules in language. You can say "'60s garage punk" or even "'60s punk" and most people now will know what you mean. But remember that in 1976 there were no Pebbles albums yet, no revival bands, no body of research. All we had was Nuggets, those "artyfacts from the first psychedelic era". So for its time, it was a distinction I felt was useful.

I don't know who if anyone picked up this usage; it was mainly for my convenience, as a historian and also as a marketer of niche products. For all I know a hundred other people had the same soliloquy on the same afternoon. But I remember it clearly.

And that's all I can tell you!

so garage is basically '60s punk. '60s punk was rock and roll bashed out by kids in their parents' garages and basements. it has a certain distinctive sound to it, rawness, amateur, primitive, loud. you get fuzz, distortion, reverb, organ (vox, farfisa, hammond, whatever) plus wild lyrics & vocals. it's the same today. no, it's not as easily "defined" as reggae because it includes a lot of different influences and styles and can sound very different from band to band, but the roots are always there. the beat, the instrumentation, the rawness, etc. it's just rock and roll.

here's where the term originated (from a Greg Shaw interview). maybe this will help:

This is tricky, because since the late '50s at least one heard about musicians and bands who practiced in garages in the suburbs. In the '80s, metal bands thought they came from the garage. Maybe some of them still do. Then of course there are all the insane new meanings that have been attached to the word by house music and (more recently) world music folks.

Nevertheless, there was a moment in history when I sat down and had a conversation with myself. Guys like me and Lenny and Lester etc had been talking about "punk" in terms of '60s bands since Dave Marsh coined the usage in his Question Mark article in Creem in 1969 (I'm glad that was finally settled!). But by 1976 it was very clear that the word "punk" was going to start meaning something else to a whole lotta people, and as I was actively writing about and working with "'60s punk rock" I felt it would be better to have a less confusing monicker. I decided on "garage rock" and I think I even wrote an essay or a liner note or something explaining why. Thenceforth I used it exclusively in all my efforts.

Of course there are no rules in language. You can say "'60s garage punk" or even "'60s punk" and most people now will know what you mean. But remember that in 1976 there were no Pebbles albums yet, no revival bands, no body of research. All we had was Nuggets, those "artyfacts from the first psychedelic era". So for its time, it was a distinction I felt was useful.

I don't know who if anyone picked up this usage; it was mainly for my convenience, as a historian and also as a marketer of niche products. For all I know a hundred other people had the same soliloquy on the same afternoon. But I remember it clearly.

And that's all I can tell you!

The good stuff. :D

I think we got the point here. Garage is an amateur who just plays rock n roll from his heart and the result is just what comes.

Gunther Toody said:

"I don't know about garage but I know what I like,

surfin' in the swamp on a saturday night."

Paraphrased from Lux Interior.

Garage is a bunch of musical neophyte nerds doing their best to sound like the Stones or the Kinks or the Yardbirds (or fill in the blanks with any band that gets poonanny, which is the biggest motivator to start a band) but not quite getting there, yet the result is honest and full of piss, energy and vitriol.

 

thanks mina. we can look up a wiki but we can't look up your mind. is that what you personally think garage to be? (just an aside here that has nothing to do with you but proto and post are probably the two most off putting words in music. they are decidedly UNmusical. again we must say that has nothing to do with you. it was just the appearance of proto that set off a personal alarm) we are all discussing and discussing always includes rambling.

Mina said:

Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name. In the late 1970s, some rock critics retroactively identified it as an early incarnation of punk rock, and it is sometimes called garage punk, protopunk, or 1960s punk; however, the music style has predominantly been referred to as garage rock.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garage_rock

thanks teen fink but what we wanted to know was what everybody thinks it is. not what it is. we are not saying anybody's personal idea of garage is a bad understanding of garage. we are just curious. curious about how people think about a certain kind of music. the reason we are curious is because it is so slippery. much more slippery than soul or even funk. this is in no way a negative discussion. not trying to PROVE anything just INTERESTED!!!! jesus christ.

TeenFink said:

and that's a bad thing? why do we have to have everything all divided up and separated into nice little categories? to be exclusionary? you wanna know what 'garage music' is? it's real RnR. yes, it's that simple. just like what u like and be done with it.

DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

sorry but we are very hung up about lots of stuff. reggae is instantly recognizable and people do not wonder about whether a band is playing reggae. the same sure ain't the same with garage.

and that's a bad thing? why do we have to have everything all divided up and separated into nice little categories? to be exclusionary? you wanna know what 'garage music' is? it's real RnR. yes, it's that simple. just like what u like and be done with it.

DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

sorry but we are very hung up about lots of stuff. reggae is instantly recognizable and people do not wonder about whether a band is playing reggae. the same sure ain't the same with garage.

sorry but we are very hung up about lots of stuff. reggae is instantly recognizable and people do not wonder about whether a band is playing reggae. the same sure ain't the same with garage.

kopper said:

Sure, go ahead. If the shoe fits, wear it. Who cares? You seem awfully hung up on "defining" things.

DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

what we're looking for is what you gave us. people's personal thoughts. you say raw primal rock and roll. that to us is little richard. should we consider little richard to be garage?

kopper said:

To me, it's just, raw, primal rock'n'roll. But I don't really like to try and "define" a style of music (I think it's one of those things where you know when you hear it). But if you're really looking for definitions, Wikipedia is a pretty good place to start, but check both garage rock and garage punk there.

And remember, talking about music is like dancing about architecture. You want perfect examples of garage? Listen to our podcasts, or the Hideout Comps! You'll hear all sorts of music that falls under the "garage" umbrella.

Sure, go ahead. If the shoe fits, wear it. Who cares? You seem awfully hung up on "defining" things.

DEPRAVOS DE LA MOUR said:

what we're looking for is what you gave us. people's personal thoughts. you say raw primal rock and roll. that to us is little richard. should we consider little richard to be garage?

kopper said:

To me, it's just, raw, primal rock'n'roll. But I don't really like to try and "define" a style of music (I think it's one of those things where you know when you hear it). But if you're really looking for definitions, Wikipedia is a pretty good place to start, but check both garage rock and garage punk there.

And remember, talking about music is like dancing about architecture. You want perfect examples of garage? Listen to our podcasts, or the Hideout Comps! You'll hear all sorts of music that falls under the "garage" umbrella.

very nice. so the thing is is is it something that must be caught at that moment or stuck at that moment? you are not neophytes forever. maybe it can only be true at that point. so as soon as you learn keith's open tuning tricks you no longer qualify.

Gunther Toody said:

"I don't know about garage but I know what I like,

surfin' in the swamp on a saturday night."

Paraphrased from Lux Interior.

Garage is a bunch of musical neophyte nerds doing their best to sound like the Stones or the Kinks or the Yardbirds (or fill in the blanks with any band that gets poonanny, which is the biggest motivator to start a band) but not quite getting there, yet the result is honest and full of piss, energy and vitriol.

 

"I don't know about garage but I know what I like,

surfin' in the swamp on a saturday night."

Paraphrased from Lux Interior.

Garage is a bunch of musical neophyte nerds doing their best to sound like the Stones or the Kinks or the Yardbirds (or fill in the blanks with any band that gets poonanny, which is the biggest motivator to start a band) but not quite getting there, yet the result is honest and full of piss, energy and vitriol.

imhos are what we are curious about. not looking for "official" definitions. your feeling that it is a bag of cats is close to how we think about it. not criticizing but finding it interesting that you are using "garage-rock flair" to describe garage music.

David John de Horton said:

Garage takes ques from all facets of music, from Rock, Blues, Punk, Soul, to Jazz, and ties it together in a dirty, nasty, raw mass of sonic nuts and bolts making a delicious blues-funk stew lightly seasoned with garage-rock flair and dirty, fuzzed-up grooves -IMHO

Tasty post. My inspection gives a Grade A and my vast playlist of chicken song's seems to find no end!  

swt said:

Just got this Brazilian one-man band's CD today

the ghastly ones ,1313 mokingbird lane ,the horrors (early) etc

I Love these guys.

Lucky1 said:

The Moon-Rays - self-proclaimed halloween band and spot-on spooky!

I was born in October and it is my favorite month and Halloween, holiday, and love how it can tie into 60s garage.  Very stoked to see the Halloween Podcast recommendations next, but wanted to check back on this string.  Was surprised to see that The Moon-Rays arent on this list. 

 

you can check out samples here...

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/moonrays/from/growthhouse

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuatcmILIFo

Puffy Shoes

I don't think they've been posted yet, they are deceptively talented and offer a fair range of ultra lo fi styles with fairly twee lyrics.

If you're into noise, which Boredoms makes me think you might be

Afrirampo

OOlOO

Melt-banana

midori

That's all I can think of right now, sorry if I reposted something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cicrxvivYbQ

Les Breastfeeders from Quebec.

Yeah ,you know what , I'm friends with one of The Rip Offs' sig - others. I KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO be the gai - jin band at a festival in Tokyo , but , I did'nt know what it was called .

Hope it's a success. Our friends in Japan need to have a good time , now , y'know ? 

Marty Shane, Pacifiction Records said:

It's the Back from the Grave Halloween Ball that goes on every year in Tokyo. There are a ton of Japanese garage bands like Guitar Wolf, Jet Boys, The Go Devils, Jackie & the Cedrics and like 30 more... for 2 nites, first show is an all-niter. They usually have a special guest from overseas and this year it's the Rip Offs.

John Battles said:

Yeah , including Roy Loney and The Longshots and The Legendary Stardust Cowboy ! Or , no , waitaminnit that's the Ripoff Records show , is'nt it?

P.S. -THE CYNICS , NOV. 3 , BOTTOM LOUNGE , CHICAGO. Your only excuse is that you live 100 miles away , or more.

Marty Shane, Pacifiction Records said:

The Rip Offs are playing with a slew of Japanese garage bands this weekend at the Back from the Grave Halloween Ball!

When I was in Europe every band I heard or saw that used "garage" (or "rockabilly" or "surf" for that matter) to promote themselves were not "garage" at all but more like punk. I figured out that it was these johnny-come-latelys way of saying they liked "garage" but were actually allowing to stay connected to bands they used to listen to like Bauhaus and shit like that (since that's what they sounded like to me). So in that sense, yes, it is trendy.

Most bands that call themselves "garage" nowadays sound like they learned the term from listening to the Cramps 20 years too late.

Kopper nailed it with his comment anyway...

In addition to "Fire", I think "Nightmare", "The Great Spontaneous Apple Creation", "I Put A Spell On You" and especially "Rest Cure" are his best tunes. I've always wondered if anyone ever sampled the bassline from "Rest Cure"...maybe Madlib?