The Cykle

produced one album's worth of solid garage rock, and it certainly proves that the band was an enthusiastic bunch of musicians. Despite claims to the contrary, 's music cannot be called psychedelia; instead, it's closer in sound to the garage punk that started to come out a couple years before the album was released, in 1969. The record is not as distinctive as the work of top-tier rock bands of the day, nor is it on par with the best garage from a few years before, but that is not to say it is unworthy. came up with decent songs, and the band played the hell out of them. may have been somewhat derivative, but they could occasionally be thrilling, too, and their playing sometimes bursts with a teenage energy that makes the songs fun to listen to. Rave-ups like and are exciting punkers full of scorching guitar along the lines of and the great, final raga-fied incarnation of , although 's near-spoken vocals flatten out the sound too much. But it is easy to see why the music probably made the teenage girls of Lumberton, North Carolina scream and swoon as if they were watching . [A reissue adds some recordings from 's pre- band, , who were certainly of their day, combining hints of , instrumental party music, soul, and beach music. The album is filled out with a couple of songs wrote for and helped record with . A distinct departure from , played straight pop/rock with full brass arrangements -- much closer to the sound of bands like -- and their songs were actually pretty solid, with quite a bit of commercial potential.] ~ Stanton Swihart