Nuggets II: The Less-Compiled Non-U.S. Stuff

Any volume of 60s punk-psych-surf-freakbeat-garage-grunge is a cause worth rejoicing for, and when it's the four-disc followup to Rhino's acclaimed rethink of the original Nuggets it's enough to make me leap for joy like a proverbial moptop. The first volume of Nuggets from three years back was basically an effort by Rhino to finally round up the A-list of Mid-American psych-punk rarities that had been circulating for years in various configurations of varying degrees of availability. There was the standard Nuggets and Pebbles that most 60s garage fanatics cut their teeth on, but there was also a plethora of more obscure comps like Back from the Grave and Mindrocker that delved even deeper below the surface of vintage 60s splooge. While hardcore cultists may've argued that some of the selections on the first Nuggets box were rather pedestrian (cf. "Incense and Peppermints"), it was still a momentous occasion to finally have such a large smattering of this stuff in one place.

Finally, Rhino has unleashed the second "definitive" volume of what I hope will be an ongoing series, and they've thrown us a curveball: instead of merely doing Nuggets II with all the leftover American garage punk that didn't make the cut first time around?from the Satans' "Makin' Deals" to Bubble Puppy's "Hot Smoke and Sassafras"?they've opted for an even more grandiose concept, mainly, the less-compiled British stuff. Once again, their intentions here are not to highlight the familiar: one will find no Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who, Yardbirds or even Zombies or Hollies herein. Like Nuggets, this set supposedly concentrates on the more obscure purveyors of 60s raunch. The concept of finally giving a legit representation to this Brit "freakbeat" stuff is a noble one?as with the American scene there've been comps like Chocolate Soup for Diabetics circulating for years that have attempted to successfully catalog this stuff from that incredibly prodigious era between the Beatles-influenced "beat" explosion and the age of psych. England was no slouch in these stakes, and the primary motivation for the whole four-man "beat group" formula essentially came from the model the Beatles and their spawn provided.

Rhino's earlier nine-volume British Invasion: History of British Rock did an adequate job of rounding up the more popular Brit sides that crossed over to America, which many times amounted to weak-kneed schlock of the Peter and Gordon/Gerry & the Pacemakers variety. However, in the British club scene of the 60s there was a wide variety of styles, from folk to blues to psychedelic, merging under the new electrified umbrella of rock. Nuggets II has done an admirable job of compiling some of the more legendary but seldom heard purveyors of this crazed ferment. But they haven't stopped with the borders of the British Isles?Nuggets II also covers the entire English-speaking world other than America. And while hardcore completists might argue that, say, New Zealand's garage-punk scene in the 60s warrants its own four-disc representation (I actually know people like this), there's enough good stuff here to satisfy even the most jaded egghead who keeps his Human Instinct albums locked up in a special room. Myself, I would've included Canada on the first volume (i.e., "North America"), but it doesn't really matter since the Canadian representation here?the Ugly Ducklings' great "Nothin," the Haunted's immortal "1-2-5"?is pretty damn essential, even in this context.

Other countries represented include Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Holland, Spain, Sweden, Mexico, etc. If I have any reservations about this set, it's the inclusion of what I consider some pretty common material. As great as the Easybeats' "Friday on My Mind," the Pretty Things' "Midnight to Six Man" and Them's "I Can Only Give You Everything" are, they've been compiled many times, and I would've sacrificed a song apiece by the Creation, the Move and Small Faces for, say, the Exiles' "Don't Leave Me" and "She's Got Eyes that Tell Lies" by Him & the Others, not to mention anything by the Rockin' Vicars (Lemmy's pre-Hawkwind and Motörhead band) or the British Nirvana (who unsuccessfully tried to sue Cobain and company over the name in the 90s).

However, much of what is here is rare and great: Fire's rumbling "Father's Name Was Dad," the La De Das' snotty "How Is the Air Up There?," the Misunderstood's "Children of the Sun" with its cauldron full of over-the-top guitar splurge, the insane "The Madman Running Through the Fields" by Dantalion's Chariot (featuring a pre-Police Andy Summers), the Fairies' primal "Get Yourself Home," the Craig's near-psychotic "I Must Be Mad," Factory's psych-classic "Path Through the Forest," the Red Squares' stunning "You Can Be My Baby" and the genuine blue-collar angst of "Social End Product" by New Zealand's Bluestars (which absolutely fucking cuts anything by the Stones from the same period, by the way). The accompanying 100-page booklet, with rare photos and liner notes by garage-rock honchos like Mike Stax and Greg Shaw, is also a plus.

What else can I say? Buy it and maybe we won't have to wait three more years for volume III.