Monoshock

• Genre: Hard Psyche
• Hometown: Oakland

About

Active during the mid-'90s, based in Oakland, Calif., and almost totally unheard while they were performing to half-empty rooms (and releasing a handful of singles and one double LP), Monoshock are nevertheless beloved by the more discerning connoisseurs of heavy psyche/stooge-rock with acid-charred vocals. Primarily motivated by the brilliantly willy-nilly guitar work and freaked-out poetry of Grady Runyan, the band toiled away (and sadly remains) in obscurity. Their music was faithfully put out by the legendary underground label BlackJack between 1989 and 1995, when their monumentally messed-up double album Walk to the Fire came out. Those singles were finally gathered and released by S-S Records in 2004, on the collection Runnin' Ape-Like from the Backwards Superman 1989-1995.

- Mike McGuirk