This 20-track compilation contains everything from their 1964 self-titled LP, as well as both sides of their three 1964 singles and a cover of
Ray Davies' "I Go to Sleep" (found on a 1965 single). Its quaintness and lack of strong tunes (only one of which was a group original) limit its worth to British Invasion obsessives for the most part, with some value for
Beatles completists due to the hit cover of "Like Dreamers Do." "No Time," one of several songs co-written by future Honeybus main man Pete Dello, is about the best song, with its moody melody; at their most energetic (as on "See If She Cares") they sound a bit like
Gerry & the Pacemakers. The covers of '50s rock classics are dire, but the reading of Davies' "I Go to Sleep," with its eerie organ and high yelping backup vocals, has some curiosity value as the first cover of this song, which
the Kinks did not release in the 1960s. Even with 20 tracks, this adds up to just under 50 minutes. Since anyone who bothers to find an
Applejacks compilation would probably want anything the group did, it's too bad Deram didn't also include the other non-LP tracks from their 1965 singles (as well as the cover of
the Beatles' "Baby's in Black" that turned up on a mid-'60s various-artists compilation), for which there was certainly room. ~ Richie Unterberger