The ‘Links came out on the drag end of the surf craze. Inspired by an imported Stones record they then started to brew their own brand of thuggish beat in the conservative hot-house of Sydney. The rip curl sneer vocal tells us they really didn’t give a four-X about convention. I look at Peter Anson’s shaggy mop and see that they should be wearing Captain Caveman uniforms, clubs and all. A Neanderthal experience from the land time forgot. the Missing Links indeed. They were billed as Australia’s Pretty Things but I’d say they were closer in sound and spirit to the first incarnation of the Electric Prunes. There’s a take on Bob Dylan’s ‘On The Road Again’ and one of the best versions of ‘Wooly Bully’ I’ve heard away from the Sam the Sham original. Fuzz is omnipotent and simultaneously softens and hardens the bare bones of the tune. Y’know, the way the fuzz does. The sleeve notes are particularly extensive to the point of having half the gatefold digi-pack to themselves and adding the weight of a small feral rodent to the record company’s postage bill every time they send one out. If it was a jewel case they’d have to stay there permanently. It’s jammed full of anecdotes. Richard Neville puts in a word on behalf of the boys’ (bad) reputation and remembers an Oz benefit they once played. They “made Oz legends look so straight”, but then he would say that, they were fellow countrymen. Highly recommended Antipodean aggro. – Steve Hanson, Ptolemaic Terrascope, UK 2001

The Missing Links Driving You Insane (Half a Cow) If this is the quality of Half a Cow’s retrospective series, bring ’em on! In a word: Classy. I’d been eyeing an obviously pirated CD version of the Missing Links’ first album for many months, hanging around as it was at Sydney’s only record fair. And just like the old faces at aforesaid fair, the cd was just…hanging around…every time I’ve been there. Luckily, the fact that this was in the pipeline (and a 40 buck price tag) made me invest cash elsewhere.

For the uninformed, the Missing Links were only around in Australia from 1964-66. They toured outside their home state only once. Their recorded legacy was an album (The Missing Links), a smattering of singles pressed in runs so small that no-one could have bought them if they’d heard them, and a posthumous EP (The Missing Links Unchained.) The music is rawboned, crude garage R and B at its best, though, and up until now almost impossible to find or sporadically documented on Australian 60s punk compilations. Driving You Insane is the Real Deal; 28 tracks, five of them unreleased, and even a few from offshoots like the wonderful Running Jumping Standing Still and The Showmen. Most I-94 patrons will know Wild About You (it was covered by The Saints) and Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut and You’re Driving Me Insane have been compiled, but other examples of the Links’ driving, low-fi rave-upmanship are thin on the ground. And you receive a 40-page history book into the bargain. – The Barman, 1-94 Nov ’99

The Missing Links, Driving You Insane (Half A Cow, Australia). In addition to assembling all two dozen cuts known to exist by both the first and second line up of the Missing Links, this exemplary reissue adds three songs by the Showmen (whose rhythm section joined the second line up) and a live 1966 TV version of “Diddy Wah Diddy” by Running Jumping Standing Still (founded by a couple of ex-Missing Links). It’s quite a package, consisting in the main of everything from their sole LP The Missing Links; the non-LP B-side “Somethin’ Else”; all four songs from their 1966 EP The Links Unchained; “We 2 Should Live”/”Untrue,” the only single (and only official release) of the first Missing Links line up; and five tracks recorded by the first line up that were unreleased at the time. Not everything here is boss, but the best of it establishes the Missing Links as the best Australian ’60s garage/punk band, and one of the better ones from anywhere on the globe. Note that although, confusingly, not one of the Missing Links in the first line up was in the second one that recorded, the recordings by the first line up are engagingly raw R&B/British Invasion pop-style numbers, even if they lack the manic frenzy and feedback experimentation of the second line up’s best moments, such as “Speak No Evil,” “Don’t Give Me No Friction,” and “You’re Drivin’ Me Insane.” Another significant plus is the detailed 40-page booklet, which gives as comprehensive a lowdown on this mysterious cult band as is likely to ever appear. – www.richieunterberger.com 2001

WOW. Received CDs & 45s on Friday. They are unbelievable. What a beautiful testament to such a great underrated group. Those outtakes from ’65 are great. That’s really my sound. The photos and packaging are fantastic. I can’t believe that the shot on the other side of the Unchained EP really existed in colour, but my favourites are of the live shots of the band from ’65. I would love to know what their set list was like — it must have been pretty cool. Thanks again for mailing them out so quickly. Best regards, Bruce Kelso 9 Sep 2001

…and what they’ve been saying about Driving You Insane:
“What a fantastic package, one of the best I’ve seen!” – Skinny, Action Records, New Zealand