The Sonics, Tacoma, WA garage-rock legends, will release their first studio album since 1967 on March 31st and will back it up with a proper tour. They play the TLA on April 12th (complete listing of tour dates after the jump). Recorded in “earth-shaking mono” by noted producer Jim Diamond of Ghetto Recorders at Soundhouse Studios in Seattle, “This Is The Sonics” reunites original members Jerry Roslie on keyboards and vocals, Larry Parypa on guitar and vocals and Rob Lind on sax, harmonica and vocals. They are backed by a powerhouse rhythm section, bassist Freddie Dennis (the Kingsmen, the Liverpool Five) and drummer Dusty Watson (Dick Dale, Agent Orange).
“This Is The Sonics” follows the legendary “Here Are the Sonics” (1965) and “Boom” (1966) LPs which rocketed the Tacoma garage rock band into music history with a gritty, sped-up, brutal rock & roll attack that sounded like nothing that had come 
before. The Sonics single-handedly defined the genre of garage rock with their debut single “The Witch” (1964) at a time when upbeat, positive ditties were still the standard rock fare. Instead, Roslie howled a primitive cri de coeur that took teenage desperation into far darker waters in the vein of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, with ominous, drug-soaked, even Satanic themes, anticipating punk, heavy metal and grunge in its sonic force.
Broken up in 1967, the band’s legacy remained frozen in time, with classics like “Psycho,” “Strychnine,” and “Have Love, Will Travel” awaiting discovery and directly inspiring countless generations of garage bands the world over, including names like Springsteen and Cobain. Last year “Have Love Will Travel” was used in a Modelo beer commercial as well as the promo for the 2014 season of Anthony Bourdain’s well-loved CNN series “Parts Unknown.” The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl highlighted the Sonics and interviewed Parypa in the Seattle episode of the HBO series “Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways.” Now, “This Is The Sonics,” released on their own Tacoma-based label Revox Records, picks up where the band left off with 12 savage new songs. Producer Diamond, the Detroit force best known for his work with the White Stripes, Dirtbombs and Electric Six, recorded the new Sonics record in mono, live in the studio, with minimal overdubs, for a raw sound experience that befits their indelible legacy.
4/2/2015 Seattle, WA – Moore Theater (record release party with Mudhoney & special guests)
4/4/2015 Las Vegas, NV – Viva Las Vegas Weekender
4/5/2015 Las Vegas, NV – Viva Las Vegas Weekender
4/8/2015 New York, NY – Irving Plaza*
4/9/2015 Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony*
4/10/2015 Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall*
4/11/2015 Providence, RI – Columbus Theater*
4/12/2015 Philadelphia, PA – Theater of Living Arts*
4/23/2015 Cincinnati, OH – Woodward Theater*
4/24/2015 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall*
4/25/2015 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick*
4/26/2015 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace*
5/8/15 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore*
5/9/15 Los Angeles, CA – Regent Theater*
5/10/15 Solano Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern*
* support: Barrence Whitfield & the Savages