Artist description Spewed in the dungeons and carports of Ashmont, Ohio... Nurtured in the shit-hot heat of the nightclubs of Paris, (KY) legendary deathplace of the Surf Sound.... Flaming out just about everywhere else...

Music Style Acid Surf Rock n Roll

Artist History Doc and The Pods were never Cincinnati's premier Acid Surf Combo Which is pretty stanky when you don't think about it.... It began as far back as 1979. The sounds and idealistic stance were pretty much there from the get-go. The same guys were knocking around with maybe 2 or 3 ancillary members who would not go on to scale (and plummet from) the lofty heights of Pod greatness. Blissfully unaware of what to do with their music, the band blew five years before trying their hand at semi-professionalism. Adopting Doc and The Pods as their silly moniker shortly before debuting publicly, they had a year, more or less, of being fawned over and no shortage of really cool gigs. The intoxicating popularity waned soonafterwards but The Pods soldiered on for at least another decade, out of some sense of purpose clear then, but now utterly murky.

Albums Grab Bag ('85), Touch the Unclean Thing('87), This is Rare ('88), Son of Kultur ('95), Podophlies('00)

Press Reviews Grab Bag reviews: NEW GANDY DANCER The World's Longest Running Rock Instrumental Magazine Issue #48 November 1996 DOC & THE PODS Grab Bag 7" Vinyl EP Ho-Ho Records USA Grab Bag is an uptempo guitar instrumental of interest from the boys among several lively fun vocals one of which shows us what the guys are like in a live format.*** (Davy) HYPER-TENSION “For Fuck-Ups Like You” DOC AND THE PODS-Grab Bag (Ho-Ho 7” EP plus 7” flexi) Lesse, if I understands this rightly (and if not, well it won’t be the first time…), what we have here is a new 3-song flexi packaged together w/ a slightly less recent 4-song 7”. Result is ‘bout 15 minutes of hi-test retro-pop beer chug. If y’ve been tryin’ to establish some kinda rep as a swingin’ dude (or dudette), just play this baby in the background and start callin’ up everyone you know. They’ll be sayin’, “Hey, you didn’t tell me you were having a party” in no time. Truth to tell, there are about 100 bands out there who wish they could sound as much as an obscure ‘60s single as this stuff does….(PO Box 6906, Cincinnati, OH 45206) SOUNDS January 25, 1986 DOC AND THE PODS 'Sometimes' (Ho Ho) Wonderful debut from nutty US beat combo. Very '60's, very groovy, rather nice. REVIEW SOURCE UNKNOWN 1986 (?) DOC & THE PODS: Total Confusion (45t.) Des garagistes de Cincinnati qui reprennent les Zombies et "Teenage Head", avec deux originaux en prime. Surpremement artisanal (pochette photocopiee), tres craquant cote son, mais tres drole et revigorant. Le Slickee Boys Fan-Club devrait apprecier. (Hoho, PO Box 6906, Cincinnati, Ohio 45206, USA). REVIEW SOURCE UNKNOWN 1986 Doc and The Pods-4 cut 7" EP(Hoho) This is an excellent E.P. by a Cincinnati garage band. I know nothing about them but I do know they have one hell of a sound that draws influences of 50's stuff like Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent (oops forgot Link Wray!) and sixties U.K. r'n'b. The first cut "Sometimes" is a fast r'n'b number that really sounds like N.Y.'s own Secret Service (Wayne is that you???). "Total Confusion" is kinda like Eddie Cochran meets all the Pebbles Vol. 6 bands (The Rats, Fairies, First Gear, and David John and The Mood.) On the B-side we have a catchy Ventures/Shadows/Link Wray instrumental called "Death Drive," complete with rev 'em up and go sound effects. The #1 fault is a live cut called "Teenage Head" where they have this awful guest vocalist who sounds straight outta the C.B.G.B.'s audition showcase! The Cramps meet The Boys From Nowhere. Bad combination, like mixing Castrol GTX with Soave Bolla and then drinking it! (No offense to T.B.N.) Still a great disc! For mo' info: P.O. Box 6906, Cincinatti, Ohio, 45206. -Bill Luther. MAXIMUM ROCK N ROLL April 1986 DOC AND THE PODS - EP Rockabillyish rock'n'roll on this 4-song EP, occasionally sinking its teeth in, but not really blasting like it could. This is best seen on their cover of the FLAMIN' GROOVIES' "Teenage Head," which just doesn't have the bite of the original. (TY) THE BOB Issue 27 June-July 1986 DOC AND THE PODS Sometimes+3 Hoho Records If your lucky, the band onstage will be as good as Doc And The Pods, whose 4-song debut EP is almost hot enough to melt the plastic it's pressed on. Very "live-in-the-studio" sounding (one track is in fact live-on-stage), they never-the-less manage a bright production job. Essential listening. -Greg Beaudoin SUBURBAN MUCKRAKER DOC & THE PODS: ( 7", Ho-Ho) Local garage goonies (who were only persuaded to start playing out like, this past summer--after 5 YEARS in the basement!) come forth w/ a real humdinger of a 4-song e.p. Probably the most fun local band and the record is really fun, too. No, really....it is... pretty four-track production, great cover, + a nifty live version of the 'GROOVIES' "Teenage Head" w/ f ' in Snare o' those IDIOTS himself, voc-guestin'! UNreal. REVIEW SOURCE UNKNOWN QUOI DE NEUF DOCTEUR? Vous commencez a connaitre les ficelles: plus c'est petit et rudimentaire, moins il y a de moyens, et plus Going Loco a tendence a s'enthousiasmer. Tenez vous le donc pour dit: ces pages sont celles des Hot Pants, pas celles du nouveau Stones. Du reste qui oserait pretendre que le dernier Stones est meilleur que le prochain Hot Pants? Si tant est que le rock 'n' roll se consomme a chaud, n'est-il pas plus excitant, plus drole, en tout cas plus surprenant, de plonger dans les abimes de l'autoproduction internationale au lieu de se contenter d'aller faire son marche chez M. WEA? Doc and the Pods est la deniere illustration en date de cette theorie qui nous tient a coeur. Un quintet de Cincinatti, un Ep plus qu'artisanal, une pochette photocopiee, deux originaux, une reprise des Zombies et une de "Teenage Head": aussi indispensablement anecdotique qu'un 45 t. des Slickee Boys. B. BINET SOUNDS 1986(?) DOC AND THE PODS 'Hard Times' (HoHo) Whereas Doc And The Pods are this sort of band; pebbles, nuggets and amphetamines. A see-through disc of transparent genius. Touch the UnClean Thing Reviews: NEW GANDY DANCER The World's Longest Running Rock Instrumental Magazine Issue # 48 11/96 DOC & THE PODS Touch The Unclean Thing 7" Vinyl EP Ho-Ho Records USA What a tidy little band! Jolly, super fast vocal on Brenda Lee's Sweet Nuthins before a delicious Ventures styled instrumental JetPack full of good chord changes and intricate little guitar touches, tuneful and solid with clever drums, bass and lead of course, but a word to the neat rhythm guitarist too. Mechanised Surf is speedy too, a 12 bar, clean sound from the band with some bloody silly crash/bang breaks which adds real fun to a Batman-like riff. Chimps is another amazing little chasing cut a bit like The Spotnicks in fact - and I bet you've never heard a US band sound like The Spotnicks. Great fun and refreshing workout from a good little band. **** (Davy) THE BOB Issue #31 Sept.-Oct.1987 DOC AND THE PODS Touch The Unclean Thing EP Ho Ho Records Doc does it all well: Retro rocker drenched in snarling vocal and stinging guitars ("Mr. Nobody"); manic instrumental ("Chimps"); straight-ahead rocker ("Sweet Nothing"); surf ("Jetpack"); and a new wavey thing ("Mechanized Surf"). This band has THE best rock guitarist in the U.S. underground, period. Brash, melodic and at times so fast he may even rival early Dave Edmunds. The drummer is no slouch, either. With this abundant talent, their only need is for a focused songwriting approach. As fun (and funny) as this record is, I believe Doc And The Pods capable of some "serious" rock efforts. -Greg Beaudoin MAXIMUM ROCK AND ROLL 1987 DOC AND THE PODS - "Touch the Unclean Thing" EP Surf, '60's pop, psyche, all rear their ugly heads here. It's OK, inoffensive stuff but nothing to do a double-take over. If you're gonna go back to the past for inspiration at least re-emerge with some idea of what decade we do live in. These guys coulda done for Brenda Lee's "Sweet Nothins" what THE SAINTS did for Connie Francis' "Lipstick On Your Collar". (TY) HYPER-TENSION 1987 DOC AND THE PODS - Touch the Unclean Thing 7" EP (HoHo) Like the Grab Bag EP before it, this 5-tracker shows the Pods to be doing better things w/the late-'60's garage sound than most of the groups who invented it, which is a pretty undeniable way to justify a retro fixation...Actually, I had hoped they'd've progressed a bit more, but the snappy lead gtr work shuts me up when I get thinkin' that way...Concludes w/a mucho splendid instrumental tagged "Chimps," and has the following on the sleeve: "Recently, Jane Goodall reversed her earlier opinion of chimps, revealing them now to be brutal murderers and gang rapists..." I happen to have heard Dr. Goodall speak on NPR's "Live at the National Press Club" show two weeks ago, and I don't remember hearing that part, but I guess I wasn't payin' close attention.... This is Rare reviews: NEW GANDY DANCER The Magazine For Rock Instrumental Music Issue #48 November 1996 DOC & THE PODS That Is Rare 7" Vinyl EP Ho-Ho Records USA And if we thought the last one was good, this is even better again! The Pods just storm along on this rollickingly good six track, red vinyl set with great Ventures' tributes like Pike, Kyoto Doll and Man From Uncle plus In The Sticks, Pellis (resoundingly good) and LooseLipSyncShip. Each cut has really to be savoured - all uptempo, shagging along merrily and, the main point, tidily done. The band is tight, professional and handle their gear with expertise - they haven't picked obvious 'WDR' type instrumentals but rarer material. What more can we say? Find of 1996? Even though some of their material was cut '93/'94...maybe. **** (Davy) UNKNOWN REVIEW SOURCE 1988 DOC AND THE PODS - That Is Rare 7" EP (Ho-Ho) Six songs, red vinyl, no vocals, and a huge comedown from their last two EPs. It all sounds like TV theme songs, and I can't decide if it's more like "Hawaii Five-O" or "The Munsters." Two summers ago I really fucked up some repro patches at work 'cause I was busy enjoying how Doc and the Pods' "Sometimes" and "Teenage Head" were stuck in my brain; it's entirely possible that I'll fuck up something at work tomorrow, but it won't be because of this. INKWIRE 1988 Doc & the Pods-That is Rare (HoHo) Hey, dudes, if you're missing the ocean and you need to catch some bitchen waves, the only band in this moisture-forsaken city is Doc & the Pods. Their latest 6-song EP features some of the snappiest board music this side of Redondo Beach. "Pike is a multi-media manic fun groove and "Kyoto Doll" is your basic surf-funk meets The Munsters at a Ventures reunion. Soon to find their way into the Pods mythology, however, are (A) their absolutely inspired cover of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." theme (an easy way to work themselves into my nostalgic heart), and (B) the wildly frenetic "Loose Lip Sync Ship," sounding like a surf-spaghetti western version of the theme from "F-Troop." This 7" is red hot, as evidenced by the scorching colored vinyl. Shawn Norton's production is sharp and perfectly layered to achieve that legendary "Wall of Pods" sound. Bryce plays psycho-organ to sense-shredding perfection, Maat's guitar is crisp and clean with lots of caffeine to keep you up all night, Kip's bass throbs like a pacemaker near a microwave oven, and Doc pounds out an exquisite bottom. You'll regret it all your days if you miss this wave. -Brian Baker Son of Kultur reviews: LIVEWIRE The Canadian Magazine For Instrumental Rock Issue #13 JAN-JUNE 1997 DOC & THE PODS 'Son Of Kultur' (HoHo #12) Together for over 10 years, Cincinnati, Ohio's Doc & The Pods have played continuously and released singles, a video and now, this album of "live" instrumentals for your listenin' pleasure! What's their sound???...mostly guitar of the fuzztone variety with some surf twangs thrown in and high energy backup by a busy bass player and drummer. The songs are a combo of TV themes, classic 60s & 80s instros with a few brilliant originals thrown in. The band can rock hard as on 'Theme From The Vindicators' but also know how to pick fast & twangy as on the stomper 'Atom Spies'. Pick up this & their other releases too if you like a band who knows how to rock out & play loose & fast with all styles of rock instrumentals! NEW GANDY DANCER The Magazine For Rock Instrumental Music Issue # 48 NOV. 1996 DOC & THE PODS Son of Kultur Ho-Ho Records USA Weird title, eh? If I go on about this band anymore, you'll think I have shares in them. Be that as it may, the album the chaps sent over is excellent fun '60s instrumentals, with a bit of later Fleshtones, Ramones, B-52s and Blondie thrown in. This set is an all instrumental concoction of a compilation with loads of good joyous instrumentals, some shaky and some sensational with many of them in a live format. I doubt this is a natural release - there's too much laughter and enjoyment - the band should be more miserable! We had a ball listening to what actually sounded at times like a history of guitar instrumentals being played at a party. Some originals (strong), some classics (crazy), and some live versions of tracks from their earlier reviewed singles (stinging). On this showing - we just love these guys - someone's cloned The Ventures with giggles! Some cracking stuff - a slow and deliberate Cruel Sea and DiamondHead and nice touches on ones we hadn't listened to for a while - Wild Child,Surfin' & Spying, Counterpoint plus their own sensational Jetpack. They play music as it should be, in an amusing, yet professional manner, wish everyone could loosen up and play like this. **** (Davy) LINKS September 1998 Volume 5, Issue 8 Son of Kultur by Doc (and the Pods) C 21941 Local band member Bryce Rhude describes this Cincinnati band's music as retro pop, surf combo. This album is an instrumental compilation of original and classic tunes, with much of it recorded live in the Cincinnati area

Additional Info SAVAGE YOUNG PODS was created by The Ashmont Beat

Location WestSide, Ohio - USA

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