V.A .- Zulu Stomp!! South Africa Garage Beats!! (2010)
From aquariusrecords.org: "There was a time when the idea of a record like this would blow our minds. "There was crazy psychedelic garage rock in South Africa in the fifties and sixties?" But by now, we're sort of spoiled, by the hundreds of world music reissue labels, not to mention the thousands of lost gems and rare records of all stripes from all over the world. So yeah, the fact that this record exists is not hugely surprising, but we are pretty thrilled that it's so good. That all these bands in white South Africa, still under Apartheid, emulating groups like The Beatles and Bill Hailey And The Comets, could come up with stuff this buzzy and psychedelic and super rocking. The root of the music on display here is definitely the early rock and roll we're so familiar with, but the bands here are fierce, the guitars buzz, the drums pound, even the simplest songs are transformed into barnstormers, almost uniformly these groups are characterized by super blown out, ultra distorted guitars, fuzzed out organs, and super intense yowled vocals.
Freedom's Children's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" is the perfect example. Covered probably thousands of times, it's barely recognizable here, until the vocals kick in, starting with a super distorted stop start intro, then some fuzzy psych leads over a dense groove, the verses are clipped and strangely arranged, with almost a new melody, played by a jagged guitar, the chorus too is drenched in distorted guitar, so goddamn good we almost forget that we're sick of that song. And the originals hold up just as well, the A-Cads, The Upsetters, John E. Sharpe & The Squires, The Bats, Finders Keepers, killer grooves, wild and rocking, loose and groovy and freaked out and frenzied, catchy as all hell and completely as good as if not better than the bands they were trying to sound like. Very few bands we'd ever heard of, but all of them kicking or asses. Maybe one of our favorite international garage rock reissues yet. Includes extensive liner notes, on the songs, the bands, and the political and social climate in South Africa at the time, and what part rebellious revolutionary music played."
Tracklist:
01 - A-Cads - Wach Your Step
02 - Upsetters - Daddy Rolling Stone
03 - Freedom's Children - Satisfaction
04 - John E. Sharp & The Squires - LSD
05 - Ronnie Singer - I Want You
06 - Bill Kimber And The Couriers - Come On, Come On, Come On
07 - Bats - Get Your Baggies On
08 - Invaders - Thinking About You
09 - Hoochie Coochies - I'm A Boy
10 - A-Cads - Roadrunner
11 - 004's - I've Got News For You
12 - John E. Sharp & The Squires - Walking The Dog
13 - The Zeros - Work All Day
14 - Johnny Congo And The G-Man - 900 Miles
15 - Navarones - Blue Blue Feeling
16 - The Kynd - Hideaway
17 - Hank Squires - Sick And Tired
18 - Finders Keepers - Man Of The Sea
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