Texas Punk from the Sixties

An uneven but generally worthy collection of 16 mid-'60s Texas garage sides. The Undertakers do a vicious cover of Ray Charles' "Unchain My Heart," as well as a quality spaced-out original with "It's My Time"; the Chessmen's "I Need You There" is Texas punk at its most basic and brutal; the Outcasts' "1523 Blair" is Texas blues-punk at its most berserk. There are a couple of rare (though not great) Mouse & the Traps songs, and much of the rest is just average. Be warned that the two songs by Them are not by the original group, but by a post-Van Morrison edition of the band that somehow found themselves based in Texas for a while. ~ Richie Unterberger