The Knaves

From Chicago, the Knaves put out a couple of singles in 1967, one of which, "Leave Me Alone"/"The Girl I Threw Away," is frequently anthologized on '60s garage rock compilations. The Knaves stood out a little from the garage crowd in their relatively heavy use of brooding folk-rock elements within their aggressive, raunchy sound. "The Girl I Threw Away" in particular has been canonized, by those in the know, as a leading example of the micro-genre folk-punk, though the A-side "Leave Me Alone," more in the standard rebellious garage rock mold, is heralded as much or more by garage enthusiasts. The Knaves never got well-known (even in Chicago) during their brief existence, but did record enough material to generate the release of an eight-song 10" LP, including all four songs from the singles and some previously unreleased outtakes, on Sundazed in 2001. ~ Richie Unterberger