VA - Authentic Way Cool Sixties Artifacts Vol 1&2 (1997/1999)

What sets this apart from the many other similar '60s garage-psych releases is the extremeness of the music. Tracks collected here feature grungier guitars, slower or varied tempos and darker and more ominous atmosphere than earlier punk singles...and more fuzz and heavier feedback (even the occasional oscillator). These tracks were typically cut later than many of the other garage-band compilation series, and influences are second generation bands like Steppenwolf, Blue Cheer, Love, and the Stooges. While poppier sounds are eschewed on these sides, according to the liner notes these heavier slabs are the flip sides of lighter material. If the ballads on garage comps are the ones you skip over, by all means pick up a copy of this collection...you won't be disappointed. An extra bonus are six caveman-stomping cuts by the Boneheaded 31 Flavors, originally from two low-budget psych-sploitation albums on the Crown label --- Jim Powers, AllMusic

With 23 very rare singles originating from all over North America, from 1966-1970 (dates are not given for a couple but they certainly fit the time frame), this is very much in the Pebbles garage compilation mentality. The key difference is that the focus is on a later era -- only two to three years later on the average, mind you, but a significant difference when you're talking about the '60s, when styles and sounds changed very quickly. It logically begets another difference between this and your average garage compilation: there is much more weight given to hard, even heavy, guitar rock and psychedelic lyrics. Nonetheless, much of the fuzz guitar and cheesy organ texture typical of "classic" garage music remains. You have to dig pretty deep even for any names that are known by association on this comp, as all of the groups are unknown: three members of Adam went on to the Balloon Farm, Light's "Back Up" was produced by Music Machine producer Brian Ross, and Steve Cropper co-produced the Aardvarks' "Subconscious Train of Thought." For all the effort involved in locating these 45s, and the informed and entertaining liner notes, it's not scintillating stuff, either on its own merits or in comparison to similar psych/garage comps. There's a dearth of outstanding material, and the blurry guitars and organs yield a somewhat monotonous, homogenous effect over the course of the 70-minute disc. You get some interesting moments here and there, usually in off-the-wall vocal or instrumental distortions, but the melodies are usually mopey and unimaginative. --- Richie Unterberger, AllMusic

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