If it were not for
Lester Bangs' hilarious and fanciful essay "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung," which sent generations of impressionable young hipsters-in-training to their local used-record stores in search of
Double Shot DBL-1002, the world would not much recall
Count Five's
Psychotic Reaction; the average casual
garage rock fan would be no more likely to search for this album than an album by
Nuggets staples like
the Remains. And frankly, despite
Bangs' wild-eyed prose in praise of
Psychotic Reaction, there would be some justice to that disappearance: this album really isn't all that great! There's the title track, of course, a total
Yardbirds' ripoff that turns out to be better than any of that overrated band's patented rave-ups, thanks in huge part to
Kenn Ellner's brilliantly bratty strangulated whine of a voice. Then there's the mysterious
"Pretty Big Mouth," a swamp
rock groove with the most bizarre lyrics on the entire album. And they certainly get major cool points for being hip to
the Who in 1966, recording
"My Generation" and
"Out in the Street" before almost anybody in the U.S. knew who
Pete Townshend was; unfortunately, that goodwill is negated by the sheer incompetence of both covers. And really, that's the problem with most of
Psychotic Reaction;
Count Five were not in any way a particularly talented band outside of
Ellner's vocals and, occasionally,
John "Mouse" Michalski's gnarly lead guitar. Songs like
'Double Decker Bus" and
"They're Gonna Get You" may be
garage rock legends, thanks to
Lester Bangs, but frankly, you'll find a half-dozen better songs on any of the
Pebbles compilations. ~ Stewart Mason