Meeting a band through an E.P. of rarities probably isn’t
ideal, and so I wasn’t expecting much from Oscar & the Majestics’ Rare & Unissued Cuts ’64-’66. Okay,
so this collection of six tracks may not have made me forget about The Kink Kontroversy or My Generation, but it is some pretty
thrilling garage rock from a quartet who dig it fast, loud, and fuzzy. With
shades of surf and blues, the things that really hold this verging-on-self-combustion
ship together are the group’s speed and shouted unison vocals and leader Oscar
Hamod’s assaultive guitar. While the Majestics’ cover of the Temptations’ “Get
Ready” isn’t quite as hot as Jeff Jarema’s liner notes want you to believe, the
other five tracks earn their keep, especially a daffy version of the Kingsmen’s
“Haunted Castle”, which is also the only previously released track here (and
good luck haunting down an original copy of that single). Rare & Unissued Cuts ’64-’66 spins at 45 RPMs on red vinyl from
Beat Rocket Records.
