Thunderbeats – 4 Minutes Ago [Moscow] – New LP

From Moscow, it’s the latest recordings from The Thunderbeats, originally released in Russia in 2023 on reel-to-reel only!, chugging into the States on the 12" long-playing platter, they got the songs and the chops and gear to back them up, sounding like November 1966, drenched in electric guitar and organ fuzz, often headed for 1967 like they'd lived through Spring 1966 to hear "Eight Miles High," other times pulling back like the crash of an ocean wave into the instrumental surf/freak out/espionage of "Misanthrope," but mostly focused on the 2-3 minute songs that sound like circa 1966, like they'd clearly been making songs since 1961, spent years listening to records by the Animals and the Sonics and were now hanging out in L.A. with the Byrds, Love, and the Standells, getting stoned and jaded, but still retaining some of the clear-eyed probity of those glory days in the garage.  -- winch 




 

Desde Moscú llegan las más recientes grabaciones de The Thunderbeats, publicadas originalmente en Rusia en 2023 únicamente en cinta de carrete abierto. Ahora cruzan el océano rumbo a Estados Unidos en formato LP de 12 pulgadas. Tienen las canciones, la técnica y el equipo para respaldarlas, sonando como noviembre de 1966: empapados de guitarras eléctricas y órganos saturados de fuzz. A menudo parecen dirigirse hacia 1967, como si hubieran vivido la primavera de 1966 para escuchar “Eight Miles High”; otras veces retroceden como el choque de una ola oceánica hacia el surf instrumental, el freak out y el espionaje sonoro de “Misanthrope”. Pero su enfoque principal está en canciones de dos o tres minutos que suenan inequívocamente a 1966, como si llevaran componiendo desde 1961, hubieran pasado años escuchando discos de The Animals y The Sonics, y ahora estuvieran pasando el rato en Los Ángeles con The Byrds, Love y The Standells, fumando y volviéndose escépticos, aunque conservando todavía algo de la lúcida integridad de aquellos días gloriosos del garage. — Winch

Из Москвы — новейшие записи The Thunderbeats, первоначально выпущенные в России в 2023 году исключительно на бобинной ленте. Теперь они прибывают в США на 12-дюймовой долгоиграющей пластинке. У них есть и песни, и мастерство, и необходимое оборудование, чтобы всё это подтвердить: звучание словно из ноября 1966 года, утопающее в электрогитарах и органном фуззе. Часто они устремляются в 1967-й, будто сами пережили весну 1966 года и впервые услышали «Eight Miles High»; в другие моменты откатываются назад, как удар океанской волны, к инструментальному серфу, психоделическим выходкам и шпионской атмосфере «Misanthrope». Но главным образом они сосредоточены на двух- и трёхминутных песнях, звучащих так, будто они действительно были записаны примерно в 1966 году: словно группа сочиняла музыку ещё с 1961-го, годами заслушивалась пластинками The Animals и The Sonics, а теперь зависает в Лос-Анджелесе с The Byrds, Love и The Standells, слегка одурманенная и разочарованная жизнью, но всё ещё сохраняющая часть той ясной честности и прямоты, которыми славились золотые дни гаражного рока. — Winch


Yeah, it's just crazy...crazy great!...
....maybe some groups try too hard to have that 60s sound (but to be honest, so many I love)
...some take the 1960s and do their own thing with it (which is usually pretty great)
...meanwhile, it's like Thunderbeats are from the 1960s!
....Maybe, it's that they are older and actually have memories from the 1960s
...maybe it's that they are from Russia—I'm not sure I can explain what I mean by that, but maybe it's easier to enter a time machine in a place like Moscow.
...But it's like I can imagine them starting the band as young teenagers circa 1958 ....getting it together in a garage circa 1962, rolling out the hot rod to make room...and then moving to California and blasting into the scene circa 1965!


"It wasn't very large There was just enough room to cram the drums In the corner over by the Dodge It was a fifty-four With a mashed up door And a cheesy, little amp With a sign on the front said, "Fender Champ" And a second hand guitar It was a Stratocaster with a whammy bar We could jam in Joe's garage His mama was screamin' His dad was mad We was playin' the same old song In the afternoon and sometimes we would Play it all night long It was all we knew and easy too So, we wouldn't get it wrong Down in Joe's garage We didn't have no dope or LSD But a couple a-quarts a-beer Would fix it so the intonation Would not offend your ear And the same old chords goin' over and over Became a symphony We could play it again and again and again 'Cause it sounded good to me One more time We could jam in Joe's garage His mama was screamin' "Turn it down!" We was playing the same old song In the afternoon and sometimes we would Play it all night long It was all we knew and easy too So, we wouldn't get it wrong Even if you played it on a saxophone We thought we was pretty good We talked about keepin' the band together And we figured that we should 'Cause about this time we was gettin' the eye From the girls in the neighborhood They'd all come over and dance around like So, we picked out a stupid name Had some cards printed up for a couple a-bucks And we was on our way to fame Got matching suits and Beatle boots And a sign on the back of the car And we was ready to work in a go-go bar People seemed to like our song They got up and danced and made a lotta noise And it wasn't 'fore very long A guy from a company we can't name Said we oughta take his pen And sign on the line for a real good time But he didn't tell us when These good times would be somethin' That was really happenin' So, the band broke up Guess you only get one chance in life To play a song that goes like Turn it down! Turn it down! I have children sleeping here Don't you boys know any nice songs? Well, the years was rollin' by, yeah Heavy metal and glitter rock Had caught the public eye, yeah Snotty boys with lipstick on Was really flyin' high, yeah And then they got that disco thing And new wave came along And all of a sudden I thought the time Had come for that old song We used to play in Joe's garage."
--F. Zappa