The Koala - The Koala (Reissue) (1968/2007)

New York-based band that released just one album, which was ignored at the time, but decades later became highly sought-after by collectors of obscure garage pysch. The unit was discovered by the Blues Magoos' producers/managers, Bob Wyld and Art Polhemus, who would secure the act a contract with Capital Records. The label decided to market the group as Australian, a gimmick that seemed to have worked for another New York group, the Strangeloves (who hit the Top 40 in 1965 with "I Want Candy"). They released their first and only single, "Don't You Know What I Mean?" b/w "Scattered Children's Toys," in 1968. Though it didn't receive any chart action, the band did proceed with recording their debut LP. Produced by Wyld and Polhemus, their self-titled record was issued the following year. The Koala mixes the Who's frantic rhythms and Stones-style garage rock with riotous psych leads and venomous, proto-punk vocals. An impressive introduction, but the unit decided to call it a day soon after their album was made available and the record disappeared without much notice. It was rediscovered in the 1990s, with original LPs selling for high prices to fans of long-lost, high-energy garage psych-punk. It was eventually bootlegged on CD by the Fallout label in 2006.