Day After Day #303: Strychnine

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Strychnine (1965)

Going back to the mid-'60s garage rock boom for today's song straight outta Tacoma, Washington. The Sonics only made three albums before splitting up, but they influenced multiple genres and bands.

Formed in 1960, the band had a few lineup changes before settling on its core personnel: Gerry Roslie on lead vocals and keyboards, Andy Parypa on bass, Larry Parypa on guitar and vocals, Rob Lind on sax and vocals and Bob Bennett on drums. The Sonics started playing local venues and were eventually spotted by Buck Ormsby, bassist for Northwest band the Wailers, who signed them to Etiquette Records. The band's first single was "The Witch" in November 1964; it became a regional hit.

The band released its debut album, Here Are the Sonics, in March 1965. Like many early rock albums, it included a few originals and a bunch of covers, including "Roll Over Beethoven," "Do You Love Me," "Have Love Will Travel," "Walking the Dog" and "Night Time is the Right Time." Roslie's vocals were clearly inspired by Little Richard, full of yowling power while the band pounds away behind him. Musically, the Sonics didn't hold back, with Bennett's hard-hitting drums and Larry Parypa's distorted guitar pushing the meter and Lind's sax trying to keep up.

"Strychnine" is gloriously demented, with Roslie singing about drinking poison for the hell of it.

"Some folks like water/Some folks like wine/But I like the taste/Of straight strychnine (hey hey)/You may think it's funny/That I like this stuff/But once you've tried it/You can't get enough/Wine is red/Poison is blue/Strychnine is good/For what's ailin' you/WAHHHHH."

The entire album was recorded on a two-track tape recorder, with only one microphone to pick up the drum kit. The Sonics played so loud and aggressive that it sounded like they were going to jump out of the speakers. You could imagine them getting a fair amount of play at "Animal House"-style frat parties in the mid- to late '60s.

"If you listen to what I say/You'll try strychnine some day/Make you jump, it'll make you shout/It'll even knock you out/Some folks like water/Some folks like wine/But I like the taste/Of straight strychnine."

The band followed it up with a second album, Boom, in February 1966, that was again chock full of party covers like "Louie, Louie" and "Let the Good Times Roll." The third Sonics album was recorded in Hollywood and reportedly found the band following more modern trends, but it sold poorly. The group splintered between 1966 and 1968, with members leaving to go to college or join other bands, and Lind becoming a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. Roslie kept the band going with other members until 1980. 

The original lineup reunited for a show in 1972 and the band's albums were re-released in the U.S. and Europe as punk bands in the late '70s and grunge acts in the '90s emulated the Sonics sound. "The Witch" and "Psycho" were included on Lenny Kaye's super-influential garage rock compilation Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era." "Strychnine" has been covered by bands including the Cramps and Barrence Whitfield and the Savages.

The Sonics' version of "Have Love, Will Travel" was used in a 2004 Land Rover TV ad, generating more interest in the band. Kurt Cobain proclaimed his love of the band, as has Jack White of the White Stripes, LCD Soundsystem and noted garage rock aficionado Little Steven Van Zandt.

The band reunited again in 2007 for a garage rock festival, with Roslie, Larry Parypa and Lind on board and backed by a new rhythm section. Different versions of the band have played live since then, with Rob Lind the only remaining original member currently playing in the Sonics.