The Resonars

The Greatest Songs of The Resonars

This compilation of Tucson garage rock legends The Resonars is timely, coinciding with the band bringing their British Invasion inspired music back home to the Liverpool Psych Fest, where they'll be around the time you're reading this, after their first European tour.

But it also makes sense that Trouble in Mind is issuing this record now, because bandleader Matt Rendon is arguably the most influential musician in Tucson at this juncture. He's been crafting the classicist '60s gems that are all the rage locally now for two decades, bringing Burger Records and other labels to Tucson, and siring or delivering, to various degrees, incredible bands like Lenguas Largas, Burning Palms and Freezing Hands.

Only barring songs from this year's masterwork Crummy Desert Sound, The Greatest Songs of The Resonars is a bit of a misnomer—I can't think of a song of Rendon's that's not great, and for that, I feel really bad for whomever had the unfortunate task of compiling these classics.

The music speaks for itself. Nearly every should've-been-a-hit was painstakenly perfected by Rendon alone in his Coma Cave Studio. Each listener will pick their personal favorites, just like I can't stop listening to Lunar Kit's title track as I write this. These are songs for the ages, three-minute bursts of condensed explosions with melodies that last lifetimes.

Matt Rendon created a discography of treasures, and even though The Greatest Songs... barely scratches the surface, hopefully the rest of the world has caught up with him and will in turn treasure his contribution to rock 'n' roll's canon of geniuses.