Marky Ramone And The Intruders: Marky Ramone And The Intruders

People who remember Dee Dee Ramone's rap album might be hesitant to pick up any other solo outings by wayward Ramones, but drummer Marky Ramone makes a fair case for why you should move forward and give subsequent releases a chance. While his new band, The Intruders, carries the Ramones torch a bit too faithfully, at least it does so with an ear toward material from the golden years: The group makes smiley punk, short and simple, much like the original Ramones did. The only thing missing is a count-off preceding every song. And it's fun, albeit not mind-blowingly so. The nature of Ramones remains an interesting phenomenon: Members had to change their names to get in, yet seem to have no desire to change them back once they leave, each wearing the tag like a tattoo of an ex-girlfriend's name. Marky, if you believe your new band's material can stand on its own, can't you go back to being Marc Bell For that matter, having done it 20 years ago, do you need to do it all over again