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 Sort of the flipside to
Cheep! Cheep’s Party Party Party compilation
(see
review), this collection of ‘60s-era weepers isn’t the platter you
throw on at your next beer blast to get the asses shaking and the booze
flowing like wine. The songs here are strictly break-up sobstories – we’re
talking minor keys, bluesy beats, and mournful harmonies, so if you’re
looking for an acid freakout, you can scrub your third eye but good with
any of distributor Arf! Arf’s eight million other garage rock comps. Here,
you’re in Bummersville, Population 29 – but what’s interesting is that
even given the morose subject matter, you’ll find a wide and interesting
variety of interpretations on the theme of My Girl Done Left Me. Like your
garage bummers on the raw side? Check out the single mic production on the
Nomads’ “How Many Times” (and no, I don’t know which of the 75 bands with
the Nomads handle this one is), or the Mere Existence’s “Now,” which
touches down in a white-hot flash of fuzztone before settling into a
heartbreakingly hesitant shuffle. Or maybe you want things more polished –
if so, dig the Beatles-style harmonies and sad vibes on “Love Is Like” by
the Strange Fate, or the Beach-Niks’ glum surf twang on “Last Night I
Cried.” Along the way, you also get hints of psychedelia (the Byrds-ish
“Cry” by Stairway to the Stars, and the Chayns’ crunchy “Run and Hide”),
and frat rock stomp (the Four Speeds’ “Why Did You Leave Me” and the
Pastels’ “’Cause I Love You”), but what you don’t get is listener fatigue
– Cheep! Cheep avoids one of the biggest compilation pitfalls by pulling
together 29 essentially similar tunes and avoiding any sense of repetition
or retread. It may seem like a foregone conclusion to come up with a CD
like Sigh Cry Die, but you know, it ain’t, given the sheer
amount of garage compilations on the market (and new ones coming every
day), and the relatively slim amount of undiscovered or rarely heard
singles from the period. So hats off to Cheep! Cheep for this disc,
although maybe raising a beer with a tear in it might be more appropriate.
Either way, if that Nancy Sinatra lookalike just took off with your mint
copy of the Chocolate Watch Band’s first LP, here’s the place to find some
sonic solace.
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