Pushin' Too Hard - American Garage Punk 1964-1967: Clamshell Box

When the Beatles suddenly took over the American singles charts in early 1964, they reminded teenagers across the country that playing rock & roll was still the coolest hobby you could have. For the kids who thought "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" were a bit too clean and neat, the U.S. debut of the Rolling Stones a few months later confirmed that sneering delinquents had a place in this scheme as well. That one-two punch led to tens of thousands of kids buying cheap guitars and drum kits, turning up their amps, and creating their own kind of racket with dreams of fame and wealth, or at least impressing their peers. Thus began the American garage rock revolution, with countless bands celebrating teen angst and bad attitude on low-budget local singles, some of which miraculously went on to become major hits. Lenny Kaye codified the 1960s garage punk phenomenon in his masterful 1972 compilation album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968, and since then a cottage industry has created an endless stream of multi-artist collections documenting the handful of stars and the countless also-rans who populated the scene. Grapefruit Records has joined the fray with Pushin Too Hard: American Garage Punk 1964-1967, a three-disc box set that features several well-known garage rock icons (the Seeds, the Standells, ? and the Mysterians), lots of cult favorites (the 13th Floor Elevators, the Remains, the Sonics, the Misunderstood), some similarly inspired stars (Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Shadows of Knight), and a bunch of little-known yet inspired lunatics (the Third Bardo, the Jefferson Handkerchief, the Durty Wurds). The 1998 expanded box set version of Nuggets will always be regarded as the definitive garage punk anthology, and Pushin Too Hard doesnt seem to be trying to usurp that status. Instead, the compilers have created a plus-size mixtape that addresses the width and breadth of the garage scenes recorded legacy while delivering a lot of entertaining listening, and on that count it succeeds brilliantly. There arent many revelatory unknown tracks here, but there arent any real duds, either, and while licensing issues have led to lesser-known tracks appearing from some of the better-known artists, hearing the Shadows of Knights "Dark Side" instead of "Gloria," or ? and the Mysterians "Girl (You Captivate Me)" instead of "96 Tears" shows that plenty of these bands had more than one trick up their sleeve, even if they only scored one major hit. For garage punk novices, Pushin Too Hard may not be the best introduction to this music, but its better than most, and serious fans will find this delivers lots of kicks in one convenient package. Its a grand celebration of what happened when kids let their fuzz boxes do the talking. ~ Mark Deming