Though they were formed in the 1960s by five American army men stationed in Berlin, the Monks would be an oddity in any locale and in any era. Dressed in the garb of the holy men from which they took their name (tonsures included), the Monks bewildered audiences with a primal garage-pop attack that was absurdist one minute and confrontationally esoteric the next. The Monks released one album--the absolutely essential BLACK MONK TIME--before disbanding, but would prove to be a huge cult favorite in years to come. The band played a series of extremely well received reunion shows in the late 1990s, though two of the band's original members died a few years later, including banjo player Dave Day.