It is the ultimate Oils collection containing one CD of unreleased studio recordings, one CD of unavailable B-sides and rarities plus 2 live CD’s drawn from iconic shows across two decades.
Most 1960s garage rock obsessives collect singles rather than albums for a good reason: While plenty of snarling teenagers could come up with two decent songs at a stretch, a precious few seemed able to brainstorm a dozen tunes without reaching to the bottom of the barrel or resorting to covers of other people's hits. But there were exceptions to this rule, among them the Sonics, the Litter, and, especially, the Remains, who never enjoyed much success on the national charts but were fabled heroes in their home town of Boston. The Remains' 1966 album for Epic is a classic, packed with great songs from singer/guitarist Barry Tashian, bassist Vern Miller, and pianist Bill Briggs, and boasting exciting, fiery performances, and if the full firepower of their legendary live shows didn't always come through on tape…
Mentors of the cliché 'agit-rock', Ton Steine Scherben (Sound Of Stones Breaking Glass) took their roots from American 1960's punk like the Velvet Underground and The Stooges, added a touch of heavy blues and a strong dose of German angst. Presenting their raw aggressive rock frequently at free festivals in the late-1960's, none of the German labels would touch them.
Recording for International Artists Records, the crazed Texas label that brought the world such acid-damaged visionaries as the 13th Floor Elevators, the Red Krayola, Lost & Found, and Electric Rubayyat, the Bubble Puppy seemed by comparison to be a beacon of semisanity - a rather typical psychedelic band of the period who seemed more interested in having a good time and cranking up the amps than in reimagining the size and shape of the inner cosmos. But that's not to say they weren't a good psychedelic band - the band's best known tune, "Hot Smoke and Sassafras," was a charging guitar-heavy rocker that deservedly became a hit single, and its flip side, "Loney," was nearly as good…