The Sonics
The Sonics Boom

It's 1966, and the Garage phenomenon would soon fade away, or rather mutate into what is defined as Proto Punk, when the Sonics release "The Sonics Boom," an album that follows the raw and irreverent "Here Are Sonics".

In their first work, the band from Tacoma had illustrated their tenets, their style, their violence ante litteram, based on a healthy Berry-like Rock'n'Roll and, in general, from the late '50s and early '60s. In this LP, they attempt to evolve by becoming proponents of a less aggressive work but with an emphasis on the Rock and Blues elements.

The beginning is electrifying and unparalleled within the work, 3 minutes of pure violent Punk brilliance, Roslie's voice never lowers the tone and engages in a harsh, piercing, intimidating singing style, occasionally interrupted by screams and brief sections entrusted to the guitar, as distorted and perverse as the voice. Once the listening is over, one is left literally astonished by the track's devastating impact, and one forgets that we are facing a composition that today is eight long decades old and that Stooges and MC5, among others, were yet to be born, or were taking their first steps... It immediately catches its breath with the cadenced "Don't Be Afraid", a track without jolts sustained by a substantial contribution from the drums and reassuring and romantic guitar notes in the background, certainly a song of historical value.

At this point, a triptych of rather peculiar songs unfolds before us. The first "Skinny Minny" is a typical '60s Rock'n' Roll, catchy, carefree, with the inevitable saxophone section in the middle; the second is "Let The Good Times Roll" which echoes its predecessor, danceable R'n'R rhythm, saxophone, but a final part characterized by thirty seconds in which they shout an aggressive "camon, camon," where the whole Garage soul can be felt, reemerging and gushing, hot and dirty. Lastly, the third "Don't You Just Know It" slower than the previous ones and characterized by the famous little chorus that follows every word pronounced by the singer, so in vogue at the time. After this parenthesis, the record enters its hottest and most inspired phase, starting with one of its masterpieces, "Jenny, Jenny" fast, frenzied, deafening, here we are, it is Garage Rock, Roslie returns to having an histrionic, piercing tone, seasoned with screams, piercing highs willingly supported by fiery melodies of thunderous, healthy rock once again primarily determined by Lind's Sax and Parypa's guitar. It is impossible to stand still; the passion in both vocal and rhythmic execution takes over and makes your body shake.

The fury does not relent; it is enhanced with the cruel "He's Waiting" with a decidedly Hard Rock sound; the voice is evil, no longer histrionic, but deep and adapts to the scales of the bass and guitar, leading to terrifying screams at the end of each refrain. A track difficult to stylistically classify, it seems indeed imbued with a mix of genres, besides G. Rock, that would be born both in a then-recent and distant future. Almost similar is "Louie, Louie", another frenzy with a strong hard approach, accompanied by a super solo. In the final part, the highlight is the ballad "Since I Fell For You" and the blues-influenced "Shot Down" and "The Hustler".

"The Sonics Boom" may sometimes seem like a repetitive album, but the innovation that these pieces brought is unrivaled, spanning from Punk to hard Rock passing through Metal, without forgetting the Blues and R'n'R base, this alone is enough to make this album a masterpiece, in my opinion, however, inferior to the first one. Rating 4.5.