Review: Various Artists – “Stay Home”

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Drunk Dial Records – May 1, 2020

Drunk Dial digs in to a Ramones classic and lets the songs stand on their own.

Records typically does fun stuff, getting bands to drink a little and then record an original song and a cover song.  These are pretty good, especially liking the record, Drunk Dial #6.  Now, in the spirit of our current state, they've released , a song-by-song recreation of Leave Home.  

Leave Home is my favorite Ramones record, hands down.  Maybe my favorite record by anyone.  So any taking on of this record goes under the microscope for me.  While Stay Home has some buzzsaw Ramones reverence going, the record doesn't do a straight-faced take, with some weird reimaginings sprayed amongst some more fundamentalist renditions.  

Stay Home opens with one of the traditionals with Italy's blasting through “Glad To See You Go”.  It's a good, if basic version.  Hakan also destroys (in a good way) one of my favorites, “Swallow My Pride”, playing it straight with an unpolished edge that keeps it raw and buzzing.  And one of my absolute favorite bands, , plays it sort of straight on “What's Your Game”, but they kick out their typical buzzsaw guitars, replacing them with a bit of a chime on a fantastic song.

Then there are some of the weird interpretations.  The do an 80's synth pop thing to “You're Gonna Kill That Girl” that sort of works somehow.  (of ) turns “I Remember You” into a really cool Elvis Costello send-up.  And maybe my favorite of the odd-takes is the surf-vibe given to “Suzy Is A Headbanger” (maybe my favorite Ramones song) by .  Lots of different spins on great Ramones stuff.

There'll be a few people who want to hear more obvious Ramones-worship, something more akin to Screeching Weasel's taking on Ramones or the Queers with Rocket to Russia.  Then there'll be a few who want nothing but out-there interpretations.  This won't completely satisfy either, but will give both something to listen to.  What I really get from this is some sort of affirmation that the Ramones wrote some of the best songs ever.  Recommended.            

Pros

  • Ramones songs are simple and fantastic.  These are Ramones songs.
  • Absolute great takes that fall all over the stylistic map

Cons

  • Some of the more oddball takes might be difficult for Ramones purists to get into; but whatever, I think I'm kind of a Ramones purist and I'm good with this, so maybe I'm way off base