Teenage Head With Marky Ramone

Teenage Head With Marky Ramone

Sonic Unyon

Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

04/22/2008 3:55pm

Hamilton's Teenage Head and New York City's Ramones were fans of each other's work and played together a few times over the years, so this fortuitous collaboration makes a lot of sense. It was recorded quickly five years ago with the former Ramones drummer sitting behind the kit and that group's frequent producer, Daniel Rey, sitting behind the control board. They rip through 12 songs from the Teenage Head catalogue, and everything ends in 36 minutes — a quick in-and-out like a proper rock ‘n' roll album should be. "You're The One I'm Crazy For," "Ain't Got No Sense" and "First Time" all owe a debt to the Ramones, while favourites "Top Down," "Let's Shake," "Picture My Face," "Some Kinda Fun" and "Teenage Beer Drinkin' Party" should be familiar to anyone who has even a passing knowledge of Teenage Head. And if you claim you're into punk, you should. Guitarist Gord Lewis' liner notes offer a valuable perspective. The album isn't original, but it's enough to make me want to see Teenage Head perform for the first time in years — which is probably the most these guys can hope for at this point.