The Sonics
On Tour
1,600,570 plays (131,059 listeners)
Listening now: titnazi, bigwednesday
Tacoma, Washington, United States (1960 – 1968, 2008 – present)
Forming in the wake of the early-’60s success of local favorites The Kingsmen and The Wailers (whose Etiquette label they recorded for), the Sonics combined classic Northwest-area teen band raunch with early English band grit (particularly influenced by The Kinks), relentless rhythmic drive, and unabashed ’50s-style blues shouting for a combination that still makes their brand of rock & roll perhaps the raunchiest ever captured on wax.
Lead singer Gerry Roslie was no less than a white Little Richard, whose harrowing soul-screams were startling even to the Northwest teen audience, who liked their music powerful and driving with little regard to commercial subtleties. With hit after hit on the local charts (and influencing every local band that ever took the stage), the band inexplicably was never able to break out nationally, leaving its sound largely undiluted for mass consumption. Breaking up between 1966 and 1968 (after one ill-fated album attempt to water down their style for national attention), the Sonics continue today to be revered by ’60s collectors the world over for their unique brand of rock & roll raunch.
Top Albums
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Here Are The Sonics
The Sonics
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Psycho-Sonic
The Sonics
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Boom
The Sonics
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Introducing the Sonics
The Sonics
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Videos
See moreEvents
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Nov
29
The Sonics
Nosturi, Helsinki, Finland
1 shout
| 35 attendees -
Nov
30
The Sonics
Brew House, Göteborg, Gothenburg, Sweden
2 shouts
| 14 attendees -
Dec
2
The Sonics
Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway
1 shout
| 10 attendees
Listeners
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nysos
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to Have Love Will Travel -
bigwednesday
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to Mashed Potato Time -
BurntReynolds
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to Good Golly Miss Molly -
jarlandersen
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youngdrunklover
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Just_suN
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Recent Activity
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jjsmash2000, gabriferesin, danglasser and 7 other people added The Sonics to their libraries. 1 hour ago
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yellowcosmo tagged The Sonics with proto-punk, 60s and garage rock. yesterday afternoon
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Deriaan, billcutts, push_and_listen and 30 other people added The Sonics to their libraries. yesterday morning
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sufi17 tagged The Sonics with ‘60s’. Sunday morning
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yayablahblah, bunbunb, slackimagine and 1 other person added The Sonics to their libraries. Saturday evening
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Parisblues tagged The Sonics with ‘rockin party’. Saturday afternoon
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luanamarinho3 and GentleMachine added The Sonics to their libraries. Saturday afternoon
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tuRRtuRR tagged The Sonics with protopunk and garage rock. Saturday afternoon
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bilgee0629 tagged The Sonics with ‘crazy’. Saturday morning
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lamagicienne_, franciscobalbi, espurness and 8 other people added The Sonics to their libraries. Friday evening
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