Single Review – The Ramonas, Speak Up

The Ramonas are the world’s best known all female Ramones tribute band, they have been relentlessly touring the UK, Europe and America since 2008. Their intense, high energy live shows have earned them a loyal fan base, huge online presence and regular slots at festivals, including the legendary Rebellion Festival. They’ve even been joined on stage by one of da brudders, Richie Ramone. Now The Ramonas are moving beyond the constraints of the Ramones extensive back catalogue and are putting out their own material.

Fan pressure has led to The Ramonas finally recording original material, and Speak Up is the first single of original material to be released and it will appear on their forthcoming EP, appropriately enough this is entitled You Asked For It. Speak Up starts with almost saintly vocals before a typically frantic 1234 kicks the song into life, this is high energy punk rock that follows on from the Ramones legacy, but this isn’t just a rehash of the Ramones past glories, obviously they are on influence on The Ramonas but whilst it carries the spirit of the band that changed everything it is a single that has it’s own character and style.

The only element of the song that is a carbon copy of The Ramones is the 1234 that kicks the track off, from their on it’s the sound of a band who are moving beyond the boundaries of being a tribute band, even if they are one of the best tributes to one of the most important bands of all time. Speak Up is exactly what you’d hope for from The Ramonas, it effortlessly blends the intensity of their punk rock roots with infectious pop melodies and killer hooks, and as you’d expect all of this is achieved in under three minutes.

Speak Up will be available to download from today, the 17^th October, from the usual suspects, including iTunes and Amazon

You can visit The Ramonas website here and their Facebook account here for tour dates and details of the single and EP.