V/A – Brats On The Beat: Ramones For Kids / 2006 Go-Kart / 12 Tracks / http://www.gokartrecords.com / Reviewed 21 January 2007

This is essentially Kidz Bop with famous stars from punk bands singing along with a set of children to Ramones’ songs. Thus, members of Pennywise, Alkaline Trio, The Dwarves, Adolescents and TSOL are all present. To be honest, a great deal of the tracks do not deviate from the original Ramones tracks much. The vocals sound a little different, for the obvious reason that other individuals are singing the tracks, but this is the largest difference that can be heard.

The younger child backing vocals do not sound as annoying as it is on Kidz Bop, as the track itself is not modified by the effort of the children on these tracks. The fact that individuals from established punk rock bands are commandeering these tracks may have some bearing on this fact, though. All of the big Ramones hits are on here, within reason (any songs about sniffing glue are left out for good reason). Even when the lead singer of The Donnas is trying to do a Ramones song (as is done with “California Sun”), one can immediately hear and know what band ey is from. While Greg Attonito (from the Bouncing Souls) tries eir hardest to make a solid version of “Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio?”, the version sounds a little too cookie cutter to be deemed a success, even given the limitations with this album. “Suzy Is A Headbanger”, done by Nick Oliveri (from Queens of the Stone Age) is another of this track that may outwardly sound like a Ramones song but fails to capture the bounciness and intensity of the original track. Blag Dahlia’s version of “Rockaway Beach” is a track that keeps up the spirit of The Ramones while still giving the children a major role in the track; it can be done, but not if the lead singer of the track does not put eir full self into the effort.

The blend of different styles in “Brats On The Beat” is without limits; moving from The Dwarves to Go Betty Go and Alkaline Trio in a short period of time, one cannot fault the creators of this compilation for being too narrowly focused. Here’s to hoping that a second or third compilation of Ramones songs done in this same vein, even if the tracks that individuals cover are not quite as well known as the songs on this CD or the individuals from different bands are not quite as well known as on this disc.

Top Tracks: I Just Want To Have Something To Do, Spiderman

Rating: 6.0/10

[JMcQ]