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CD
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TMR 374CD
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"The Monks -- a strange, rare group with a story that sounds like a drunk friend's generous hyperbole. A group of American G.I.s stationed in Germany on the precipice of Western cultural revolution starts playing music loosely connected to the rock n' roll craze, contrastingly incorporating a critical and often offensive avant-garde edge. Nothing was off limits -- screeching vocals, dark aesthetics, staccato-strummed banjo, sardonic lyricism, critiques of the Vietnam War and full monk costuming down to the tonsure. When viewed on the whole, it seems like an art school student's senior thesis on what the craze means and its future possibilities. Due in large part to original Polydor vinyl collectability and years in the word-of-mouth hype machine, their legend and cult status has steadily blossomed since their last shows in 1967. Fast forward to 2017, the crew at Third Man, already huge fans, are presented with an honest-to-God treasure trove of original Monks photos, newspaper clippings, business cards, letterhead, contracts, postcards and, yes, analog tapes, containing trailblazing, wild compositions completely unheard by public ears. 'I'm Watching You' would have been recorded on February 28th, 1967 at the same sessions that would produce the Monks' final single 'Love Can Tame the Wild' b/w 'He Went Down to the Sea'. The remaining four songs were recorded after hours in the Top Ten Club later that year, just prior to the break-up of the band. These songs have been unreleased for 50 years and are quite possibly the last music left to be heard by this legendary band."
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LP
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TMR 374LP
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LP version. "The Monks -- a strange, rare group with a story that sounds like a drunk friend's generous hyperbole. A group of American G.I.s stationed in Germany on the precipice of Western cultural revolution starts playing music loosely connected to the rock n' roll craze, contrastingly incorporating a critical and often offensive avant-garde edge. Nothing was off limits -- screeching vocals, dark aesthetics, staccato-strummed banjo, sardonic lyricism, critiques of the Vietnam War and full monk costuming down to the tonsure. When viewed on the whole, it seems like an art school student's senior thesis on what the craze means and its future possibilities. Due in large part to original Polydor vinyl collectability and years in the word-of-mouth hype machine, their legend and cult status has steadily blossomed since their last shows in 1967. Fast forward to 2017, the crew at Third Man, already huge fans, are presented with an honest-to-God treasure trove of original Monks photos, newspaper clippings, business cards, letterhead, contracts, postcards and, yes, analog tapes, containing trailblazing, wild compositions completely unheard by public ears. 'I'm Watching You' would have been recorded on February 28th, 1967 at the same sessions that would produce the Monks' final single 'Love Can Tame the Wild' b/w 'He Went Down to the Sea'. The remaining four songs were recorded after hours in the Top Ten Club later that year, just prior to the break-up of the band. These songs have been unreleased for 50 years and are quite possibly the last music left to be heard by this legendary band."
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7"
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PL 005EP
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2023 restock. First official authorized reissue of Complication/Oh-How To Do Now by legendary avant-garde rockers Monks, originally released by International Polydor Production in 1966. Original artwork. Original master sound.
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DVD
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PL 004DVD
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2009 release. The Monks were five American GIs in Cold War Germany who billed themselves as the anti-Beatles; they were heavy on feedback, nihilism, and electric banjo. They had strange haircuts, dressed in black, mocked the military, and rocked harder than any of their mid-'60s counterparts while managing to basically invent industrial, punk, and techno music. The award-winning 100-minute documentary The Transatlantic Feedback not only illustrates the pop music phenomenon in its political, social, and cultural contexts, but also reveals the Monks project as the first marriage between art and popular music, coming months before the The Velvet Underground. The five protagonists of the film came to Cold War Germany in 1961 as soldiers and left the country in 1967 as avant-garde monks. In the film they recount their adventure for the first time. This DVD release (DVD-9; all-region; NTSC format) contains 81 minutes of bonus features, including "Biographies" (Dave Day, Eddie Shaw, Gary Burger, Larry Spangler, and Roger Johnston talk about their origins and musical backgrounds), "A Date with Dave Day" (an introduction to the concept of Monks' banjo-playing with Elvis fan Dave Day, the first rock 'n' roll banjo player in history), Monks' 1960s appearances on German television (the only '60s performances preserved on film presented in their entirety for the first time), "Live In New York 1999," the documentary's trailer, and live footage of Martin Rev and Doc Schoko. Includes subtitles in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Polish. Includes eight-page booklet containing liner notes by Allison Anders and filmmakers Dietmar Post and Lucía Palacios.
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