BLACK MONK TIME

The Monks: Gary Burger (vocals, guitar); Dave Day (banjo); Larry Clark (organ); Eddie Shaw (bass); Roger Johnston (drums). Includes liner notes by Mike Stax. One of the strangest artifacts of the 1960s, the Monks' sole album, BLACK MONK TIME essentially anticipates Blank Generation punk by about a decade. The music is a furious rush of minimalist drums (seemingly influenced by German marching bands), percussive electric banjo strums, fuzz guitar and feedback, and in-your-face lyrics expressing such tender sentiments as "I hate you" and "Shut up!" To be sure, the Monks will occasionally remind you of other rock bands of their day; L.A.'s Music Machine, for example, managed a somewhat similar mix of stop/start and fuzz. But the Monks did it first and with the most conviction; after all, these guys were serious enough about what they were doing to actually shave their heads and wear real Monks costumes. Needless to say, very few people grokked the concept back in 1966 (the LP was never released in America), but the album has since achieved genuine cult status. The 1997 CD version (on Henry Rollins' Infinite Zero imprint) thoughtfully includes one track from the BLACK MONK TIME demo, which lives up to its reputation as being even more deranged than the official album.