Those hankering for an international strain of stripped-down ’60s rock blare should investigate Mejor de Los Nuggetz: ‘60s Garage and Psych. It serves up mucho Spanish language R&R action and arrives on opaque red vinyl just in time for Record Store Day courtesy of Liberation Hall. The bands (and one gal singer) hailed from various locales in Mexico, Spain, and South America. The songs are all covers of rock, R&B, and pop hits from the USA and UK. A few radio station IDs and commercials for cars and cola enhance the weave of a very appealing listen.
Driving home the impact of the Rolling Stones on the ’60 garage rock phenomenon, the Mexican band Los Apson opens Mejor de Los Nuggetz with an echoey, stomping “Satisfacción.” Additionally, the Barcelona-based Los Salvajes are featured with two Stones covers, “La Neurastenia,” an energetic version of “19th Nervous Breakdown” with killer bursts of fuzz, and “Todo Negro,” a reading of “Paint It, Black” that deftly retains the urgency of the original. “Voy Por Ti,” the last song on the album and the second by Los Apson, dishes out Willie Dixon’s “The Seventh Son” in the spirit of the early Stones.
Much of the source material on Mejor de Los Nuggetz derives from the UK. There’s “Nuestra Generación” by Barcelona’s Lone Star, a lean, manic take of The Who’s “My Generation,” while later in the album, Los Belmonts of Mexico City brings “Arriba Abajo Y a Los Lados,” an impressive version of The Yardbirds’ “Over Under Sideways Down.” Later still, Mexico’s Los Matemáticos are heard with “Me Atrapaste,” a ripping run-through of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me.”
Spain’s Los Mustang’s version of The Beatles’ “Please Please Me” is a crisp chime-pop delight. A few years later and the band had gravitated to the other side of the Atlantic for inspiration with “La Carta,” a take of The Box Tops’ “The Letter” that is faithful to the original as it establishes a growing tendency toward pop.
From Lima Peru, Los Shain’s “El Tren Pasa Esta Noche,” swings the stylistic pendulum toward the raw rock stuff with a fuzzed-up and raucous cover of “Train Kept A-Rollin’” by Tiny Bradshaw likely by way of The Yardbirds. Los Shain’s then hits the garage bullseye with “96 Lágrimas,” a positively Tex-Mex-ified take of ? & the Mysterians’ “96 Tears,” a similarity that’s only gets deepened by “Bule Bule,” an appropriately celebratory cover of Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs party anthem “Wooly Bully.”
“Nadie Como Yo” finds Mexico’s Los Yaki tackling “Nobody but Me” the way the Human Bienz did it, which keeps us firmly in the realms of Lenny Kaye’s Nuggets concept. But it’s Los Locos Del Ritmo, also from Mexico, who connect Mejor de Los Nuggetz to the original Nuggets 2LP with a version of “Hey Joe” in the style of The Leaves.
Some might knock Mejor de Los Nuggetz down a few pegs due to its covers-centric nature, but keep in mind that “Nobody but Me” was originally done by The Eisley Brothers, as was “Que Chica Tan Formal” by Barcelona’s Los Polares here, recorded by the Eisley’s as “Respectable.” Furthermore, Los Polares had range in their choice of material, as the 4-song 7-inch EP from 1966 that included “Respectable” also offered versions of The Mamas & The Papas’ “California’ Dreamin’” and The Pretty Things’ “L.S.D.”
Chilean actress and singer Gloria Benavides’ “Esta Bota Son Para Caminar,” a take of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” is a bit of an outlier here, but backed by Los Diablos Azules, it does bring the album a flash of something comparable to the yé-yé uprising of the era. So, if an outlier, it’s a welcome one. But the core of Mejor de Los Nuggetz: ‘60s Garage and Psych is rock solid.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
