"Louie Louie," "Money," "It's All Over Now," "Wipeout" -- the law of averages demands at least a few mediocre hitherto-unsung regional garage bands to counterbalance the blazing gems, and Ohio's
Alarm Clocks fill that gap. There is nothing terribly wrong with the 4,092 nationwide renditions of all the above, though, plus the lads had the mischievousness to throw on
the Rolling Stones' "It's Alright," credited with a smirk to that band's old collective pseudonym, "Nanker Phelge." Raucous, cascading rhythms jostle snootier-than-you singing straight from the
Jagger playbook; but nothing soars beyond, or through, these three guys in a garage to form immortal mojo clawing at posterity's eardrums. So history's richest prize here belongs to that splay-legged, bermuda-shorted fellow on the back cover, in the back yard, dancing the frug unto ecstasy and consummate un-self-consciousness. ~ Andrew Hamlin