As is the story with so many of these revered, but lost and neglected guitarists, producers and nut jobs, Michael Yonkers didn’t get his deserved attention during the first epoch of his career. Being in Minnesota probably didn’t help too much, but during the mid to late ‘60s when record labels sought to exploit the youth culture, there were a clutch of acts getting swooped up so some suits in order to make a dollar.

As would happen a decade later with the New York punk scene, Yonkers inked a deal with Sire Records on the back of a deal cemented by Peter Steinberg. But before any of this occurred, Yonkers was working out more traditional styled ‘60s rock with a band called the Mumbles. The band weren’t the most surprising or shocking act at the time, but it helped lead Yonkers beyond what other garage acts were doing and eventually resulted in his rechristening the act the Michael Yonkers Band.

A trite moniker for sure, but the music that this combo worked out had its peers in the freeq scene of the time. There’s a Velvet Underground drone here and there coupled with the winsome guitar reverb of earlier rock acts from the ‘50s. But in that combination, Yonkers created some stomping, garage inflected rock stuffs that weren’t the same as Beefheart or some of the other weirdoes making the rounds concurrently to this Minnesota native.

That record deal with Sire just didn’t work out, though. What Yonkers submitted to the label wound up becoming Microminiature Love, an odd title, yes, but compared to Zappa, maybe not too musically obtuse. Set to be released towards the end of the ‘60s, the music represented here had a distinct chance to affect future music in the same vein as the Fugs or some other downer acts of the time. Microminiature Love, however, just sat around until a few tracks were included on a compilation decades after the album’s recording.

What first wound up making it out to listeners were “Pupperting” and “Kill the Enemy.” The latter track begins with a swish of production noise and what sounds like three guitars playing the same few notes – kinda like Rhys Chatham, but a decade earlier. The repetitious nature of Yonkers’ guitar figure is amped up a bit by the garage styled back of the band. It’s not a straight ‘60s rock concept by any means and in fact winds up coming off as an eastern tinged mid decade track as opposed to some outsider rock stuff from the end of the decade. Surely, the Vietnam related lyrics date the track. Even if the song’s Microminiature Love most well known offering, it should be.

Most everything included on this first Yonkers recording is going to please weirdo guitar fans. The one draw back to all of this is the fact that Yonkers and company present themselves as a rather serious cohort. And while that might have worked for folks on the coast, here it seems a bit odd. Of course, the consistency of Microminiature Love should afford the musicians the right to do whatever each pleases.