Dec 15

Garage Rock Revival

GARAGE ROCK REVIVAL
 
 
Garage rock  (sometimes called ’60s punk or garage punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada.  The style is characterized by the frequent use of basic chord structures played on electric guitars and other instruments, sometimes distorted through a fuzzbox, as well as a tendency towards aggressive and unsophisticated lyrics and delivery.  The term “garage rock” derives from the perception that groups were often made up of young amateurs who rehearsed in the family garage, although many were professional.  In the 2000s, a wave of Garage Rock Revival acts associated with the post-punk revival emerged, and a handful achieved airplay and commercial success.  (More from Wikipedia) 
 
 
Of course, the other side of the complaint I mentioned above is that, sure enough, “they do still make ’em like they used to” from time to time.  I heard an ad on VH1 the other day that used a killer track by the Black Keys as the background music.  The success of this band – they’ve been going strong for more than a full decade now – proves that the Garage Rock Revival of the early 2000’s from bands like the White Stripes, the Hives, the Killers, Eagles of Death Metal, and Queens of the Stone Age still has some life in it.  
 
(January 2012)
 
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That happened one time with “No One Knows” by Queens of the Stone Age.  The time was back in the Garage Rock Revival period of the early 2000’s, when the White Stripes, the Hives, the Strokes, and several other great retro bands were really getting established.  I hadn’t heard the song before, but the beat sounded good, so I left the recorder running.  That song got to be a real favorite of mine, and I was particularly thrilled when I later recognized Dave Grohl – former drummer for Nirvana and front man for Foo Fighters – on drums in the video (that’s a video cap from the “No One Knows” music video above). 
 
(December 2012)
 
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Boyskout recorded their first album in April 2003 and November 2003 with the assistance of Daniel Dietrick on bass guitar and keyboards,  The producer is Jeff Saltzman; in the same year he produced the debut album Hot Fuss for the Killers, another successful entry in the Garage Rock Revival of the early 2000’s (the band’s name is taken from the nickname of rockabilly pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, “Killer”). 

 

(January 2014)

 

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The second album by the Dirtbombs, Ultraglide in Black came out in 2001 when the Garage Rock Revival was on the rise, led in part by Detroit’s own the White Stripes.  The Dirtbombs were the opening act for the White Stripes in this period, with bandleader Jack White acknowledging his influence by the Gories.   

 

(December 2014)

 

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The Voxx Records retrospective CD, Be a Caveman: The Best of the Voxx Garage Revival (2000) presents one incredible song after another that has led me to buy several full albums by the bands on the CD.  This ’60’s revival scene stayed below the radar for many years but eventually came to fruition in what I call the Garage Rock Revival of the early 2000’s.  

 

(January 2015/2)

 

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Rock and roll pioneer Bill Haley was from Detroit; in 1955, “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets was the first big rock and roll hit. Hank Ballard and the Midnighters had a crossover R&B hit in 1954 with “Work with Me, Annie”; this band also recorded the original version of “The Twist” in 1959 as a B-side that Chubby Checker catapulted to a nationwide craze the following year. More recently, the White Stripes is one of the primary bands that ignited the Garage Rock Revival of the early 2000’s, among a host of other like-minded Detroit groups. 
(March 2016)
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Among the rock bands that have arisen since the Garage Rock Revival began in the early 2000’s, the Black Keys has attained a prominence in the American consciousness that Queens of the Stone Age, the Hives, the Strokes, and even the White Stripes never quite managed. As an example, I have noticed the band mentioned in our local paper twice in the past two or three months. Suzy Shaw of Bomp! Records told me that she was eating lunch in Los Angeles once and overheard several suit-clad businessmen talking about the Black Keys a few tables over. 
(June 2017)
Last edited: March 22, 2021