Being a top regional act was once an achievement on par with being a Pacific Coast League MVP — you could make the jump to the majors, but life on your local circuit was pretty sweet too. Decades before the Northwest was grunge’s harsh realm, it was the incubator for some legendary garage-rock acts. Some of them cracked the national consciousness to varying degrees — think Portland’s Kingsmen or Boise’s Paul Revere And The Raiders. And some of them were the Sonics, the biggest near-miss story the region ever told. The Tacoma band’s rep was made on the back of two fearsome originals: “The Witch” and “Psycho.” Featuring the unhinged screamy camp of newly-minted lead singer Gerry Roslie, these singles and more galvanized teens across Washington. Their first couple of records were released by Etiquette Records, owned by hometown heroes the Fabulous Wailers, whose cover of “Louie Louie” inspired the Sonics to form in the first place. Here Are The Sonics and Boom didn’t invent the garage aesthetic, but they locked it in a crimson cage: hamfisted power chords, demented vocals, and a paint-peeling volume. (Legend has it that while recording Boom, the band tore out the studio’s soundproofing in order to generate the properly improper sound levels.) At odds with Etiquette, who had turned down purchase offers from a couple of major labels, the Sonics broke ties, recording the comparatively tame Introducing The Sonics in 1967 for Jerden, a Seattle concern owned by the Kingsmen’s producer. By then, the Vietnam War was in full effect, and several band members enrolled in college to avoid the draft. The Sonics moniker was sold to new singer Jim Brady, who recorded bleached (but occasionally pretty tight) pop-rock for another decade or so. Reissues in the ’70s and ’80s brought the original Sonics sound to new markets, and a critical reappraisal followed. After years of resistance, Roslie agreed to perform with his old bandmates, and a third edition of the Sonics (with a new rhythm section) made a triumphant appearance at Brooklyn’s Cavestomp! Festival in 2007, with a European tour after. Last month, the band dropped This Is The Sonics. The only lesson was to release the record on their own label; the blistering cover of “I Don’t Need No Doctor” takes on a wickedly mordancy, and the original “I Got Your Number” cannily threads the Stooges and Roky Erickson through the same needle.