Various
Lost Innocence: Garpax 1960s Punk & Psych 2xLP
2024 Munster

Vintage garage rock is only one of the many tributaries of popular music that the maverick Gary S. Paxton recorded and produced in his 1960s heyday, and compared to other genres, the off-kilter genius behind "Alley Oop" and "Monster Mash" was hardly prolific with it. But for a producer-engineer of his repute, it was inevitable that Paxton would cross paths with the sudden surge of teenaged rock groups that emerged in the wake of the British Invasion. Munster has gathered the best of them on Lost Innocence, and for any aficionado of the genre, a treat is in store. As well as a brace of acknowledged Californian punk classics present and correct for the first time direct from master tape, this rockin' little disc also shares further booty from the Garpax vaults, including some obscurities well worthy of re-appraisal, along with completely unreleased nuggets of note. Counting among the well-known are the Avengers, Ken & the Forth Dimension, Limey & the Yanks, Whatt Four, and the Buddhas. Most of the material on Lost Innocence was recorded at Paxton's two Hollywood studios between 1965 and 1967, but some of the freakier cuts derive from facilities he ran from a converted bank in the Bakersfield suburb of Oildale in the last three years of the decade. In the commercial environs of mid-1960s Hollywood, the producer remained omnipotent and Paxton would happily call on his seasoned session crew if you weren't cutting it, musically speaking. On "Lost Innocence", however, most of the players remained those same wide-eyed teenagers that had been ushered into his presence. Compiled by genre expert Alec Palao and originally released by Big Beat/ACE on CD only a few years back, it is now available on vinyl for the first time. Also featuring The Fog, The New Wing, Mental Institution, Don Hinson, The Chocolate Tunnel, and Carl Walden & The Humans.