Don't Knock the Rok!

Here's another underrated gem from Roky Erickson's back catalog: a collection of loose, improvised, fragmentary covers of oldies, recorded as a warm-up for the band The Aliens in preparation for the seminal album The Evil One. Never intended for release, the songs contained herein are sloppy, full of missed notes, sung off key, and simultaneously hilarious and poignant. The opening track, for instance, is "Teenager in Love," but by the third verse Roky is stealing hubcaps and lamenting wistfully "Why must I be a teenager in jail?" Full of false starts, cracked falsetto, and between-song bloviating, this one is perhaps for fans only, but those Roky lovers among you should lap it up lustily.
Bumblebee! Bumblebee! Zombie! Zombie!