The influence of 60s Northwest garage pioneers The Sonics is wider reaching than imaginable. They were easily one of the first high-octane, lo-fidelity garage bands of their era or any, but the snarling energy, gritty tension and blood-curdling screams predated punk, blueprinted grunge and informed all rock and roll that was to come.
It would only make sense then, that eventually a cache of dyed-in-the-wool Sonics fiends would come together to record 16 Sonics classics, in tribute to one of the most important bands weve ever known. Scott Mccaughey (R.E.M. / Minus 5 / Young Fresh Fellows) joined with Mark Arm, Steve Turner, and Dan Peters from Mudhoney, Tom Price (U-Men / Gas Huffer / Monkeywrench), Big Kahuna (Girl Trouble), and Craig Flory to form The New Original Sonic Sound. A seven-piece all star powerhouse!
The Mudhoney factor is huge, as Mark Arms vocals lead the songs and 3/4 of the band is the backbone for NOSS. But more than sounding like Mudhoney doing a covers re-cord, you really get a sense of how deep an influence The Sonics had on Mudhoney and all of these players, and all their friends and peers bands. The sense of reverence and purpose is audible, and the recordings are wild, electric and fun as hell.
