The Monks

The monks(和尚乐队)可能大多数人都不是很熟悉，但他们却是真正意义上的第一支Punk乐队，当性手枪和冲撞乐队们尚未撤掉尿布的60年代中期，五位来自美国FRANKFURL军事基地的士兵组建了世界上第一支真正的朋克乐队MONKS，从60年代的眼光去看MONKS的音乐，外表与意义是古怪的超乎想象。MONKS们将头顶的头发剃了精光，配上黑色的僧袍，“领带”则是绞索，让那些卫道士们看得目瞪口呆，而他们的音乐用言简意赅的歌词联结了战争，死亡与憎恨，由主唱BUGER恶毒愤怒的夸张表情，抽搐不乾的口中吐出。他们是未来的先知。 1964年组队，1967年解散只出版过3张正式的唱片，可他们的影响力将一直持续下去，向先驱者致敬！ 那些远离摇滚本质的空中楼阁里的艺术摇滚时髦电子之流的的动静终究也必然只能是昙花一现，那些暧昧之音已经把我呛的胃疼，你们难道不感觉到难受？回顾那些根源的摇滚乐吧，我不知道该对你们说些什么，这里的朋克并没有你想象的CHAOS或者ANARCH，也无法让你玩闹的POGO起来。因为THE MONKS不属于那种吵闹的PUNK音乐，有的只是另一种表达方式，他会冷冷的向你说出：我恨你们！暂且不说60年代我们都在乾什么，当然了我相信能看到这些胡扯的几乎就不可能有那时代的人，可我觉得就算今天听来THE MONKS一样让人感到残忍的无望。这些感情隐藏的非常好，喃喃的充你嘟囔着SHUT UP!LOVE COME TUMBLING DOWN.LOVE CAN TAME THE WILD. 在THE MONKS眼里这个世界根本不值得歌颂，只不过他们狡猾的用另一种手段表达了出来，我喜欢这样的阴险这样的玩世不恭。当然了THE MONKS会给你醉人的旋律，就好像他们是一支狂冒傻气的爵士乐队一样，这可真有意思！难道你忘记THE MONKS了？去找来儿时看过的那本杨波编写的黑色小册子吧，小册子上有4个字，朋克时代！其中选择的THE MONK的那首complication不知让多少孩子惊奇。同时在此向杨波致敬，借以怀念只出版了3期就被文化局喊停的朋克时代，被朋克时代影响的孩子请举手，我知道那里面也许还有你！’
by Richie Unterberger
One of the strangest stories in rock history, the Monks were formed in the early 60s by American G.I.s stationed in Germany. After their discharge, the group stayed on in Germany as the Torquays, a fairly standard beat band. After changing their name to the Monks in the mid-60s, they also changed their music, attitude, and appearance radically. Gone were standard oldie covers, replaced by furious, minimalist original material that anticipated the blunt, harsh commentary of the punk era. Their insistent rhythms recalled martial beats and polkas as much as garage rock, and the weirdness quotient was heightened by electric banjo, berserk organ runs, and occasional bursts of feedback guitar. To prove that they meant business, the Monks shaved the top of their heads and performed their songs — crude diatribes about the Vietnam war, dehumanized society, and love/hate affairs with girls — in actual monks clothing.
This was pretty strong stuff for 1966 Germany, and their shocking repertoire and attire were received with more confusion than hostility or warm praise. Well known in Germany as a live act, their sole album and several singles didnt take off in a big way and were never released in the U.S., it was rumored, because the lyrical content was deemed too shocking. They disbanded in confusion around 1967, but their album — one of the most oddball constructions in all of rock — gained a cult following among collectors, and has ironically made them much more popular and influential on an international level than they were during their lifetime. Bassist Eddie Shaws 1994 autobiography, Black Monk Time, is a fascinating narrative of the Monks stranger-than-fiction story.