Kurt Cobain explaining the lo-fi power of his “favourite drum sound”
The Sonics, the garage rock that formed in 1960, can claim to have influenced a whole host of eminent musicians. From Kurt Cobain to The White Stripes and LCD Soundsystem, their style can be found in the work of many others. In fact, Jack White venerates them so much that he once claimed The Sonics had a defining influence on his entire creative vision, labelling the band as “the epitome of ’60s punk” and maintaining that they were “harder than the Kinks and punk long before punk”.
That’s the thing about The Sonics. Although they are widely categorised as a garage rock band, they are best regarded as one of the foremost proto-punk outfits. Long before Iggy and The Stooges and The New York Dolls provided the final ingredients for the emergence of punk, The Sonics had already made significant strides in making rock more punishing.
Years before the aforementioned acts had formed, they assembled the early components of the high-gain, high-octane form of rock that would eventually become known as punk, inspiring both The Stooges and The Cramps, whose sinister sounds owe a lot to the Tacoma band.
Arguably, their most famous track comes in the form of ‘Have Love, Will Travel’, a swaggering cover of Richard Berry’s original. The song has been ubiquitous since it was released in 1965 as part of their debut album Here Are The Sonics, with it famous for its use in Guy Richie’s aptly named romp, RocknRolla. Elsewhere, some of their other most revered pieces arrive in the form of ‘Psycho’ and ‘The Witch’, with the latter such a twisted iteration of garage rock that it becomes immediately clear from where The Horrors drew inspiration in their early period.
Although the story of The Sonics’ influence is an extensive one, the title of their most significant fan goes to the late Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain. In April 1994, when Nirvana appeared alongside Cobain’s wife Courtney on Nardwuar’s show on CITR-FM, he praised The Sonics and their drum sound. The grunge icon explained that despite The Sonics recording “very, very cheaply” on a two-track, they still managed to get an “amazing” drum sound, which he tagged his “favourite”.
He said: “I, I have to admit… The Sonics recorded very, very cheaply on a two-track, you know, and they just used one microphone over the drums, and they got the most amazing drum sound I’ve ever heard. Still to this day, it’s still my favourite drum sound. It sounds like he’s hitting harder than anyone I’ve ever known.”
