Various Artists - Steppin' Out - The Roots Of Garage

Facts Steppin’ Out is a 94-track companion volume and prequel of sorts to ‘Pushin’ Too Hard American Garage Punk 1964-1967’ released in 2024. Like ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’ this box contains plenty of the raw, exciting 1960s music retrospectively named garage punk but ‘Steppin’ Out’ spreads its net wider adding surf, frat rock and folk rock nuggets to the mix. These American genres combined with the influence of The British Invasion led to a garage rock explosion in 1965. Highlights include the truly demented ‘Surfin’ Bird’ by The Trashmen, the blood curdling proto punk of ‘The Witch’ by The Sonics, the sublime jangling guitar pop of ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers’ by The Beau Brummels and the reverb heavy twang of The Astronauts’ instrumental ‘Baja’.