2000 Great Songs #1210: Medication
I first heard "Medication" when the college station started spinning Outta The Nest , the 1984 debut from NYC indie band The Vipers. The album ranged from jangly, retro-psychedelic pop, not far afield from Paisley Underground bands like The Rain Parade and The Things , to rawer garage band revivalism. I particularly loved "Medication," a slinky psychedelic groove with dueling guitars over a rumbling bass riff. It had an authentic 60s vibe, which I only later realized was because it was a cover of a song by first wave Los Angeles proto-punk garage band The Standells. (Kids, the world was a different place when you didn't have the entire history of the universe sitting in your back pocket.) The Standells' original, from their 1966 debut Dirty Water , is already pretty great; the Vipers gave it slightly fuller production, but other than that you can't go wrong with either version. (BTW, you can pick up the Vipers album on Bandcamp .) The Standells' o...
