by Stewart Mason
If it were not for Lester Bangs' hilarious and fanciful essay &Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung,& which sent generations of impressionable young hipsters-in-training to their local used-record stores in search of Double Shot DBL-1002, the world would not much recall Count Five's Psychotic Reaction; the average casual garage rock fan would be no more likely to search for this album than an album by Nuggets staples like the Remains. And frankly, despite Bangs' wild-eyed prose in praise of Psychotic Reaction, there would be some justice to that disappearance: This album really isn't all that great! There's the title track, of course, a total Yardbirds ripoff that turns out to be better than any of that overrated band's patented rave-ups, thanks in huge part to Kenn Ellner's brilliantly bratty strangulated whine of a voice. Then there's the mysterious &Pretty Big Mouth,& a swamp-rock groove with the most bizarre lyrics on the entire album. And they certainly get major cool points for being hip to the Who in 1966, recording &My Generation& and &Out in the Street& before almost anybody in the U.S. knew who Pete Townshend was; unfortunately, that goodwill is negated by the sheer incompetence of both covers. And really, that's the problem with most of Psychotic Reaction; Count Five were not in any way a particularly talented band outside of Ellner's vocals and, occasionally, John &Mouse& Michalski's gnarly lead guitar. Songs like 'Double Decker Bus& and &They're Gonna Get You& may be garage rock legends, thanks to Lester Bangs, but frankly, you'll find a half-dozen better songs on any of the Pebbles compilations.