The Pretty Things - The Pretty Things (Fontana - 1965)

The Pretty Things - The Pretty Things

All right, all right, I know: another bunch of hairy 60's white boys. Coming just after a post about The Walker Brothers, this can seem a bit too much. But in fact, The Pretty Things had absolutely nothing in common with the Walker boys, except talent. No fucking orchestrated pop here but only the expression of pure bluesy juvenile savagery. You realise something is wrong immediately with the first track, Roadrunner of what is their first LP, The Pretty Things. At first you think "oh no, again, little sloans going from art school trying to play like the bluesmen they grew up on". But suddendly, from the guitar to the voice, everything goes into the red. And calling a song Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shut 3 years before 1968 is a the proof of their intuitive ability to feel the air of the time. From the beginning to the end of this album recorded in only 48 hours, you feel an emergency and an energy that set tup how garage or punk would sound like for the years to come. The kind of sound that Jack White still spend his time chasing nowadays.For the little story, those Brits were Rolling Stones acquaintances and get rid of their producer after only half an hour of recording session. Seminal band, seminal record.