Black Monk Time

Rolling Stone (4/17/97, p.80) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...the most precociously extreme, exuberantly screwy platter in rock history....Imagine the stark, raving dada of the Fugs bumrushing the crisp la-di-da of '60s Brit-pop..." Spin (p.81) - "Five discharged American GIs playing beat music in mid-'60s Germany....'Complication' remains the most credible antiwar song ever..." Spin (5/97, p.112) - 8 (out of 10) - "...While Paul Revere & the Raiders were still headlining Portland bowling alleys, and before `(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone' had even been composed, the Monks were inventing a blitzkrieg bop far stronger than what soon followed..." Q (1/02, p.59) - "...Speed-crazed GIs stationed in Germany take rock'n'roll down a truly mental tunnel of primal, repetitive mechanized beats..." Uncut - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[E]verything is as loud as everything else: feedback, martial drums, fuzz bass and an overamped banjo that sounds like the forked end of a crowbar being scratched on sheet metal." Mojo (Publisher) (3/01/04, p.52) - Included in Mojo's The 67 Lost Albums You Must Own! - "[B]rutal punk rants about hate and war just when the 'peace and love' vibe was really kicking in....[A] head-driller of a rock 'n' roll record." Mojo (Publisher) (p.51) - Ranked #25 in Mojo's "The 50 Most Out There Albums Of All Time" - "Their one LP is an artefact of almost supernatural prescience..." Blender (Magazine) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "The Monks came armed with a minimalist racket, frantic social diatribes, and churlish attitude that presaged punk..." Pitchfork (Website) - "[I]n 1966, BLACK MONK TIME was beyond the cutting edge, and today it's easy to hear what made it so innovative and challenging." Record Collector (magazine) (p.92) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[O]ne of the wildest LPs ever. The bass is set to overdrive, the portable keyboards set to stun with blank stabs and manic runs....Colossal." Signal To Noise (p.78) - "[T]he Monks' debut album perfectly fixes the forces of sexual frustration and anti-authoritarian opposition within a template bounded by insanely catchy melody, raw aggression, and unstoppable rhythm."