The difference, by ear
American teenagers copying beat groups off records produced garage rock - cruder, faster and angrier, with the harmony lost.
Both are sung cleanly, but garage rock is a little faster: 140 to 180 bpm against 120 to 160. To hear the difference, play The Beatles next to The Sonics. Both grew out of rock and roll in the same year.
In figures
Beat / British Invasion
Where it sits
Rock › Rock and roll › Beat / British Invasion
In short
The British took American rock and roll, added vocal harmony and shipped it back across the Atlantic. Both hard rock and pop-rock start here.
How it sounds
- Two- and three-part vocal harmony borrowed from American girl groups and doo-wop.
- Twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar with a clean, chiming tone.
- Short songs, near-perfect pop structures, almost no improvisation.
Key acts
- The Beatles
- The Kinks
- The Who
- The Animals
Start here
The pickThe Kinks - You Really Got Me. The first genuinely distorted riff on record.
Full page →Garage rock
Where it sits
Rock › Rock and roll › Garage rock
In short
High-school bands, a Farfisa organ and one good idea recorded badly. Attitude beats technique here, and punk descends from it directly.
How it sounds
- A Farfisa or Vox organ, very often louder in the mix than the guitar.
- Raw production cut in a few hours, with saturated vocals and distant drums.
- One good riff, repeated for two and a half minutes.
Key acts
- The Sonics
- The Standells
- The Seeds
- ? and the Mysterians
Start here
The pickThe Sonics - Psycho. Gerry Roslie's voice is a decade ahead of punk.
Full page →