THREE brash chords, incessant drumming and punchy vocal delivery.
While every one of these stylistic features may be commonplace in 2016, these were the tools by which a gang of New York ne’er-do-wells started a revolution which transcended the confines of music and became a genuine global force.
The architects of punk rock in its truest form, it’s been 40 long years since The Ramones careered into the public eye with leather jackets, ill fitting t-shirts and a total disregard for the conventions of rock ‘n’ roll as it was then known.
While prog rock bands such as Genesis, Rush, Boston and many others stretched what had became the purest form of youthful rebellion to contrived and pompous lengths, Joey, Dee Dee, Tommy and Johnny Ramone cast all of this aside in favour of biting, malevolent songs which possessed just enough melody to be adopted as anthems for a new emergent sub-culture.
Taking heed of the ramshackle garage rock styles which epitomised ‘proto-punk’ acts such as The Modern Lovers and The Stooges whilst maintaining a natural gravitation towards poppy choruses, the sound of the Ramones’ eponymous debut is now hailed as the blueprint for the legions of bands that were to follow in their footprints and impact the world in their own way.
Stripped back to its bare bones and with an emphasis on maintaining a ferocious pace, it’d be hard to imagine what may have became of the 1970’s music spectrum had they been discouraged by the showboating and obnoxiousness that polluted the rock charts at the decade’s midway point.
Spawned from the fruitful CBGB scene which was pivotal in exposing artists ranging from Talking Heads and New York Dolls to Blondie and Patti Smith to the wider world, this unkempt and distinctly DIY scene was perfect for a band whose members were still getting acquainted with their instruments during their early shows.
Recorded in a mere seven days, to think that the band managed to conjure up a record which would kick-start a cultural movement over such a finite period of time only adds to the mystique and status which surrounds its every note.
Released by Sire Records, the album’s immediate effect can only be compared to that of a meteor crash-landing into popular music’s atmosphere; inspiring countless youths on both sides of the Atlantic to align themselves with this new and as yet undefined scene.
One of the truly momentous aspects of the album is its reliance on a simple yet exhilarating formula which was employed time and again, proving that there was no direct correlation between virtuosity and crafting music that would resonate with an audience.
To a generation that was conditioned to believe that bands such as Led Zeppelin, Cream, Deep Purple et al were untouchable rock gods that inhabited a space which the common man could only aspire to reach, the lack of complexity in the songs which defined their debut album and their resiliently scruffy appearance halted rock’s gentrification and proved that the gap between consumer and musician wasn’t as vast as once thought.
Comprised of 14 gripping tracks which don’t require overwrought guitar solos, intrusive production techniques or keyboard interludes to make their mark, the intangible energy that radiates from their formative recordings is apparent even 40 years on.
Very few musicians could boast of having a track as iconic as ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ on any studio album never mind being able to employ it as the listener’s introduction to their music; with its frantic opening chords acting as the auditory equivalent of Lord Kitchener’s wartime call to arms and spurring thousands of converts to pick up guitars and mimic its rudimentary three chord assault.
The one-two punch of ‘Beat On The Brat’ and ‘Judy Is A Punk’ provided a masterclass in fusing abrasion with catchy choruses with a level of ease that has rarely been equaled to this day while ‘Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue’ saw them distill the essence of teenage apathy and disenfranchisement over a barrage of revolutionary distorted guitar.
Tracks such as ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’ and ‘Listen To My Heart’ proved that they could tackle the complex issues of love with the poise of a team of major label songwriters before ’53rd & 3rd”s grisly realism taught the punk bands that were to follow a lesson in providing an uncompromising look at the world’s seedier underbelly.
Concluding with the powerful ‘Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World’, the title of the record’s final track would serve as something of a prophetic statement for a band that would go on to inspire; either directly or subconsciously, the majority of bands that have followed in their wake.
With an influence which reaches beyond all logical boundaries, It’d be entirely fair to say that we’d be without The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Replacements, Black Flag, U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, The Strokes, Queens Of The Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines, Iceage, Death Grips and Mac Demarco to name but a tiny sample of those whose music can be traced back to the album which popularised punk and brought the sound of underground defiance to the mainstream.
The band that saved rock ‘n’ roll from a cruel and pretentious fate whilst simultaneously propelling fiery passion and danger back to the forefront, we can’t thank The Ramones enough for all that they unknowingly gave us when they stepped into Radio City Music Hall’s hallowed studios all those years ago.
