Tol-Puddle Martyrs

The oddly named Australian group the Tol-Puddle Martyrs (evolving out of the mid-'60s band Peter & the Silhouettes, who had a track on a 1966 compilation LP) put out a couple of singles in 1967-1968 that are highly regarded by garage rock collectors, though not many people heard them outside of Australia at the time of their release. (Actually, not a whole lot of people heard them inside Australia either.) The 1967 single "Time Will Come"/"Social Cell" is taut, distressed garage rock on the verge of getting slightly psychedelicized, with cutting minor-keyed distorted guitar/organ riffs and ominous, distrustful lyrics. By contrast, their 1968 single, "Love Your Life"/"Nellie Bligh," is rather fey, extremely late-'60s Kinks-influenced perkiness. All four tracks were reissued on a 2003 EP in Italy by Misty Lane, with some historical liner notes. Their name, incidentally, wasn't as contrived a bit of '60s weirdness as might be assumed, inspired by an 1834 incident in which six farm workers in Tolpuddle, England, were banished to Australia for unionizing, subsequently becoming known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs.