These vermin crawled out of a garage in McKeesport, PA in 1966, an ugly mutation of their previous incarnation as the poppy (though cool) Fantastic Deejays. This is what it musta been like to sit in on an early Stooges rehearsal (if they ever had one); the guitars are shit-caked with impenetrable distortion, the vocals are larynx-shredding screeches... the (mostly) cover material is treated with about as much respect as Pete Townshend had for his ears. Even the Sonics' "Psycho" is given no quarter-- mangled, mauled and reshaped into sheer punk dementia. Ditto their crazed take on "Louie, Louie" (yes, it was written into every 60's band's contract that they hadda record at least one version of it). Does that mean they were a better band than the Seattle legends? Hell no! The Rats were a model of inconsistency-- despite the intense slabs of garage goop featured here, there's also stabs at Merseybeat which frankly, much like Disco, still suck. Forgive my unflappable honesty on that last point though, kats 'n' kitties: the majority of this platter is great, wailin' fun. Shit, any more primitive and they woulda had callouses on their knuckles!
RIP to Swamp Rats vokillist/skins-basher Bob Hocko, who died of lung cancer in 2003, aged 54. There will be many more to come who will gasp in awe at your band's godly crud.
Look in the comments, dumbass.
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ReplyDeletepw = sln2008
cool......thanks. when did this baby get recorded?....... i dont think disco was suckin till the 70's.......mebbe it's a re-release title?
ReplyDeleteThe title is misleading-- it stems from a bootleg released in the 80's (a shoddy one at that) called "Disco Sucks!" that compiled some Rats along with Bob Hocko's later band, Galactus. This one is all Rats, though.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question: 1966-67.
This records RRRRROOOOOOCCCCKKKKKKSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIT'S HARD TO EXPLAIN, THE SWAMP RATS...YOU HAD TO BE THERE...IT ALL HAPPENED SO FAST...ALL I HAVE ARE GREAT MEMORIES ABOUT THE BAND AND ALL THE PLACES WE PLAYED...FUNNY HOW TIME FLIES WHEN YOUR HAVING FUN...I STILL PLAY IN A BAND...STILL WRITE MUSIC....NOTHING MORE TOO SAY...EXCEPT THAT, I WISH I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN....LATER
ReplyDeleteHey Paul....It's nice to see you guys have been rediscovered.
ReplyDeleteI was driving along, minding my own business, listening to a local college radio station and BAM! Psycho by the Swamp Rats is on the box....
Made me feel great remembering the Night Train and listening to the Rats back in the day.
Live Long my friend...your stuff will live forever
Oh Yeah...The kid playing the music said you rock.