{"id":19638,"date":"2020-09-23T05:30:28","date_gmt":"2020-09-23T09:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=19638"},"modified":"2026-06-10T08:45:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T12:45:30","slug":"album-review-various-artists-double-whammy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2020\/09\/23\/album-review-various-artists-double-whammy\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Various Artists — Double Whammy!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Nuggets<\/i> did it first, and Nuggets<\/i> <\/a>did it best: the early \u201870s 2LP compilation curated by Lenny Kaye brought together a widely disparate collection of underappreciated songs from the \u201860s, applying a label to those songs that somehow made sense, even if The Amboy Dukes\u2019 \u201cJourney to the Center of the Mind\u201d had nothing in common with The Cryan Shames\u2019 \u201cSugar and Spice.\u201d Decades later, Rhino expanded Nuggets<\/i> into a 4CD set, one that joined a by then extensive roster of garage\/psych compilations and series (Pebbles<\/i>, Back From the Grave<\/i>, etc. etc.)<\/p>\n

One might think that by 2020, the metaphorical cupboard must have been swept clean. But the resurgence in vinyl means that the time is ripe for another similarly-themed collection, even if some of the contents will seem too familiar by half.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the case with Double Whammy! A 1960s Garage Rock Rave-Up<\/i>. Sixteen songs from the first garage era, the set is filled with some great music. But it seems to start unimaginatively: \u201cPsychotic Reaction\u201d by The Count Five is an indisputable classic, but who among the new release\u2019s target market hasn\u2019t already heard it a thousand times?<\/p>\n

But wait: In an inspired move, the set opts for the mono mixes \u2013 the single versions \u2013 of the tunes rather than stereo. And that means that even though the familiar \u201cPsychotic Reaction\u201d is here, its a very different version than the one you\u2019ll find on Nuggets<\/i>. Mono, after all, is the right configuration for these protopunk tunes. Happily, all of the remaining thirteen tracks are far less well-known, and \u2013 unlike some comps of its stripe \u2013 Double Whamm<\/i>y!<\/i> avoids stocking the platter with covers.<\/p>\n

Farther along, The Music Machine shows up, and the compilers make another wise choice, including the excellent \u201cThe People in Me\u201d rather than \u201cTalk Talk\u201d or \u201cDouble Yellow Line,\u201d both included on the expanded Nuggets<\/i> set. And the Vagrants are represented as well, not by their reading of Otis Redding\u2019s \u201cRespect\u201d but instead by \u201cI Can\u2019t Make a Friend,\u201d a tune that pushes the boundaries of garage rock. Again, good choice on the part of the compilers.<\/p>\n

Is the music derivative? Sure. That\u2019s a feature, not a bug, though. And there\u2019s no denying the appeal of a deep obscurity like Lonnie Duvall\u2019s \u201cAttention.\u201d Delightfully sloppy guitar solo? Check. Well-worn riff? Check. Even the white boy blues of The Torquays\u2019 \u201cHarmonica Man (From London Town)\u201d is a treat. And the maniacal organ riffage on Circus Maximus\u2019 \u201cShort-Haired Fathers\u201d is a thing to behold (the tune\u2019s jangling Rickenbackers, assured bass work and close harmonies ain\u2019t bad, either). The aptly-named Bittersweets combine stinging guitar leads with creamy vocal work.<\/p>\n

The album offers up a few surprises. Chief among them is a spoken-word introduction from Bill Wyman; the tune that follows is quite good, as well. The horn-heavy \u201cThe Animal in Me\u201d is slightly out of place here, but the demented combo organ solo pulls the tune well back into garage territory.<\/p>\n

Double Whammy!<\/em> ends with a decidedly strange tune, \u201cThis Calls for a Celebration\u201d by The Fantastic Zoo. Vocal harmonies in a sort of sub-Association mold introduce the tune. But the uncluttered production values \u2013 and a perversely awful guitar solo \u2013 offset the \u201cchurchy\u201d vocal parts. It\u2019s a weak tune upon which to end a solid collection, but it doesn\u2019t significantly diminish what is a worthy addition to the garage compilation canon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nuggets did it first, and Nuggets did it best: the early \u201870s 2LP compilation curated by Lenny Kaye brought together a widely disparate collection of underappreciated songs from the \u201860s, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19639,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,33,49,62,65],"tags":[3800],"class_list":["post-19638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compilation","category-garage","category-new-release","category-rawk","category-review","tag-craft-recordings","cat-19-id","cat-33-id","cat-49-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19638"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19638\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31673,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19638\/revisions\/31673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}