Corpus Christi was quite a breeding ground for early punk groups. Zakary Thaks has come to be what many consider as one of the innovators of Texas garage. Thaks came out of the demise of two groups The Marauders and The Riptides, which mostly played surf instrumentals. The members of the group were Chris Gerniottis (vocals), Pete Stinson (rhythm guitar), Rex Gregory (bass) and John Lopez (lead guitar), and Stan Moore (drums). Over the few years they were together, a few line up changes took place, members went on to play with other excellent bands including Bubble Puppy and Liberty Bell.
Zakary Thaks recorded for the local J Beck label along side The Bad Seeds. J Beck was owned by Carl Becker and his brother in law Jack Salyers, which came to create J Beck. Their first single was an original tune “Bad Girl” with a Kinks cover for the flip, “I Need You.” Bad Girl was recorded out of Jimmy Nicholl’s studio owner of Pharaoh Records. The second single, “Face To Face,” was recorded at Jones Studio in Houston in 1967. This was an eight-track studio, a far cry from the two-track studio used for their first single. Being an intense, tight group the Thaks were renowned for their live shows and would pack venues across Texas.

Since most of our readers here have heard of this group many times, and because of the abundance of information and plenty of interviews on the web, I am going to keep it short this week. I am posting this disc because I was able to catch the Texas Monthly showcase during SXSW, and Chris Gerniottis played with The Ugly Beats, I was blown off my feet. It was as if all the Zakary Thaks records were being played over the loud speaker. Gerniottis is as punk as ever with all the tone he had in 1966. I could not believe the sound that came off the stage that evening. Other groups in attendance that night were the Green Fuzz of Bridgeport, Mouse and The Traps of Tyler, Christopher and The Souls of McAllen, The Nova’s of Dallas and Kenny and The Kasuals of Dallas. The night was chock full of Texas Nuggets, who with out a doubt can still play and play with the fury they had in the mid sixties. If any one has not heard of this group please read this interview atT. Tex Hex, and if you can, check out Not Fade Away issue # 3, which is where I was able to score the scan below of The Thaks playing live in 1966.

LISTEN: Zakary Thaks – Face To Face