MOG Editorial Review

Like their backstory, the Monks' music felt one-of-a-kind and impossible to replicate, even if they only had one album to show for it. After meeting as Army members in Germany, the band slowly but surely developed an oddball garage rock sound all their own by the time of Black Monk Time's release in 1966. Feeling less like the garage rock of its time and more like the proto-punk of bands like MC5 emerging years later, opener "Monk Time" immediately informs you that this is no conventional rock record, using both spoken word and screaming to comment on soldier in Vietnam, and equally aggressive tracks like "I Hate You" show that they had an edge no one could capture yet in the states. While more melodic tracks like "Oh, How to Do Now" had more in common with what would eventually be known as punk, the bands' refusal to conventional in any sense will always be their lasting legacy.