Single Review: Ramona – How Long
It’s no coincidence that this 4 piece from Brighton chose the name Ramona for their band, in fact the only real shock is that the intro for ‘How Long’ doesn’t include the legendary chant of ‘Hey Ho Let’s Go’. Ramona, you see are a band whose heart and soul belong in the sadly defunct CBGBs. Sounding somewhere between the punk energy and speed guitars of the Ramones and the poppier, melody rich tunes of Blondie, their songs are short (both songs here come in at 3 minutes), spiky and full of attitude. They also happen to be well written; debut single ‘How Long’, a perfect 3 minutes of punk pop about being trapped, includes the great lines ‘22 still can’t pay my rent/Let’s begin my decent into madness/it’s better than sadness’. B-side ‘Steve McQueen’ is an altogether slower affair but still bursting with energy and attitude, it also contains probably the most abrupt ending I’ve ever heard! On the strength of this I look forward to hearing more. 4/5
Mark Cousens
Out 13th September on Bullitt Records
www.myspace.com/weloveramona
No related posts.
Never heard of them before but I’ll keep my ears open for them. I’m more of a Ramones-Sex Pistols fan.
Sounds like they might be a bit on the poppy side for you, but check it out and let me know what you think!