THE RAMONAS by Luke Bateman
“First World Problems” What The Ramonas have done is pull in a string of infectious punk melodies and safety pins and welded them together with some truly killer guitar hooks, vocals, bass lines and drums.
The Ramonas:
As the name suggests, The Ramonas are an all female tribute to the iconic New York Punk Rock band The Ramones. Originally conceived back in 2004 with multiple different lineups, The Ramonas have evolved into a fully fledged, razor sharp live band in their own right, and releasing some damn fine own original material! Touring, Touring is never boring and these girls are guaranteed to play high energy, full throttle one hour shows thatâll leave you buzzing for more of that 1976 spirit.
Not content with releasing a rather good EP in November 2016 “You asked for it”, they are back with a full album! All new, self penned material, its The Ramonas!
The Ramonas – Ian Bourn – MediaWorks/Scene Sussex
First World Problems
The follow-up to The Ramonasâ 2016 debut original release âYou Asked for Itâ (EP) will be officially released on September 10th 2017. Titled âFirst World Problemsâ it will be available as CD and download; a limited edition run of vinyl will be available from November 2017.
UPDATE:
The album is available on a limited edition run – road to ruin YELLOW vinyl!
The video for their new single “Poser” is on YouTube
and the video – POSER:
The Band:
Vocals â Lisa Lathwell
Guitar â Maxine Cahill
Bass –Â Victoria Smith
Drums – Camille Phillips
14 tracks blazing at you in less than 30 minutes, remind you of anyone? This album should carry a health warning! Its loud and fast – it will throw you round the room/bus/tube – anywhere you choose to listen. Your ass will belong to The Ramonas for the 30 minutes play time! You thought punk was dead? Let me tell you – no it aint! It’s here, It’s Alive and it’s kicking with added hair, mascara and a handful of attitude.
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- Vocals – Lisa Lathwell
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- Bass – Victoria Smith
Oozing the intensity, power and energy of a live â76 Ramones set, âFirst World Problemsâ also encompasses many of the girls wider musical influences with hints of early B-52âs, The Cramps, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Runaways, Descendants and MĂśtorhead. The album also draws influences from 90âs rock, grunge, pop and the girlâs more recent contemporaries.
In a world where the ideals of punk remain relevant, the girlâs self-penned tunes are their own take on growing up in the noughties era, tales from the road and living as the social media generation. Two tracks from the EP make it onto the album.
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- Drums – Camille Phillips
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- Guitar â Maxine Cahill
2.0.1.6 is the opening salvo of the album. This is a powerhouse of an opener – its gonna fill your brain with a pounding drum and bass combination with Maxine putting in some great punk guitar, and Lisa cuts into your brain faster than a chainsaw with the vocal delivery. I have enjoyed seeing The Ramonas a few times, they are more than just a tribute band. Sure they have a bucket load of Ramones influences packed in there, but this is The Ramonas. Its them in their own right, they know exactly what they are doing and hell its exciting! At 2 minutes the song slams to an end.
Daily Fail – I will let you make your own comparison to an actual newspaper! This is a belter – that’s all! This track absolutely pays homage to the Ramones in the structure of the song and would have slotted perfectly into a Ramones set – but they didn’t write this, The Ramonas did. It has it all – fist pumping lines, chorus chants and backed by some superior class drumming from Cammy. A Johnny Ramone style guitar rips through the speakers from Maxine – down strokes only? Lisa’s vocals crack adding a real edge to this track. This should carry an ear worm warning.
Tearaway – Vicky shouts at you “1,2,3,4” – A wall of thumping bass goodness greets you, as does a tasty slice of harmonica as this track opens up. A name shout from Lisa for Charlie Harper (UK SUBS, Legend and all round great guy) mid song. Charlie Harper is playing on that harmonica – he makes it growl and howl. Nicely played Charlie!
UK SUBS: Charlie Harper – Ian Bourn – MediaWorks/Scene Sussex
The band blast through this track, Lisa displaying a vocal versatility with an almost heart breaking shout of “Tearaway”. A sublime harmonica howl brings the track to a close at 1 min 30!
Cotton Wool Kids again pulls in a Ramones sound. Maxine and Vicky – providing an on point assault on guitar and bass as Cammy keeps the pace. Lisa fires those vocal chords for this track, and just check out the lyrics – meaningful and full of observations. Then the whole track is backed with an early Runaways style of chorus. Love this track!
The album tracks come at you hard and, just as the band does live – FAST! We are treated to to some fine vocals, bass, guitar and drums. The album is full of crowd pleasers with lots of “Hey’s” and chants. This album has been beautifully crafted, everything fits and nothing wasted. The Ramonas deserve recognition for this silver slice of punk.
A VIDEO!
A video teaser created by Media Works and Scene Sussex for the new album “First World Problems”
THE RAMONAS – New album mixer "First World Problems"
Posted by IANB's Media Works on Wednesday, 30 August 2017
Light the fuse, stand back and turn it up! Its The Ramonas!
First World Problems – The title track of the album comes at you at a slightly slower pace. Dont let that fool you however, the intensity and the lyrics will take you away. It grinds into your psyche. “you’ve got problems, I’ve got problems…”. Those influences harking back to the B52’s and The Runaways are tucked away in there. Some great buzzing guitar from Maxine and the chorus inserts and shouts from the band carry this song. Its a song you will not forget in a hurry.
Microwave Mandy – a thumping opening on bass and Lisa delivers a great vocal – her range and tonality is astonishing. Cammy provides those rolls and fills as Maxine delivers a change in guitar playing style to suit that punk wipe out surf sound. “Something easy to nuke” – ping!
The album and the production effortlessly blends the intensity of the Ramonas punk rock history. What The Ramonas have done is pull in a string of infectious punk melodies and safety pins and welded them together with some truly killer guitar hooks, vocals, bass lines and drums.The album snaps at your heels as it plays, the at times sharp 1976/77 styled lyrics are brought up to date for 2017 and at times will make you stop and think.
I did hint earlier this album is short, every track comes in at under 2mins 50. They wanted to move in a new direction. This album is proof indeed that The Ramonas have 100% done a good thing here. The EP You Asked For It was demanded from their many fans, hence the title. A few months on and this album does the job in meeting those demands and exceeds them. I can guarantee that anyone who goes out to buy this will be glad they did. The punk album of 2017 so far for me!
The Ramonas work hard, damn hard and are always touring across the UK and Europe playing a back catalogue of a legendary band. Now a set of dates for the guys is in place for them to take their own material on the road and launch a rather splendid album. Go see them play!
And relax…
My headphones were glowing red hot from the heat generated by this album. This is balls to the wall punk at its best from The Ramonas. Go see them play! Headphones cooled down, hearing restored I headed out with Sheena, Jackie, Judy, Ramona and my new friend Mandy for a beer……
Physical copies available at http://ramonas.bigcartel.com/
Downloads available on iTunes and all major download sites.
Email : book.the.ramonas@googlemail.com
Please note all images / video are copyright, please do not copy. If any of the featured artists/promoters/venues want copies of the images â or more if available â please just get in touch.
All original pictures â copyright to IANB/MEDIA WORKS/ SCENE SUSSEX â Ian âThe Lensâ Bourn 2017.
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