The Most Significant Indie Records

The Ugly Ducklings - Somewhere Outside (Yorktown Records,1967)

Released in early 1967 but containing the band's three 1966 singles, Somewhere Outside skirts the cusp of '66 r'n'b and '67 psychedelia. The LP opens with "Nothin'" and its prototypical garage riff, allegedly recorded on a two-track machine for $300 and pushed into regular rotation just a few weeks later by local deejays. Other tracks, such as the revved-up "She Ain't No Use to Me" and the searing "Just in Case You Wonder", their third single, capture on vinyl the hegemony of cool the Ducklings had over the Yorkville scene in Toronto at the time. Still other tracks, like the Rascalesque, harmonica-tinged "Not for Long", add a quieter balance, while the closer "Windy City (Noise at the North End)", an acid-blues rave-up, echoes Paul Butterfield's excursions of the same year.