Kepi Ghoulie – Ramones in Love
Reviewed by suzi boneshaker
Label: Pirates Press Records
Release date: 2/14/2023
Review date: 4/01/2023

All tracks are recommended. My faves: 10, 2, 9, 3, 4, 5, 7 FCC clean
Acoustic rock, goth, art rock, garage, punk.
RIYL: Groovie Ghoulies, Ramones, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cure, Nick Cave, Peter Murphy, Jonathan Richman

Paraphrased description from Pirates Press records website:
“When Kepi Ghoulie (former singer, song writer and bassist of the Groovie Ghoulies) was a teenager he made a compilation tape of all the Ramones love songs in chronological order… he loved their ballads, and after seeing the Ramones live several times, realized it was unlikely he would ever hear these songs live… the tape was an essential part of the soundtrack of his life… punks need ballads after the show is over, relaxing, or when spending time with a partner…

Kepi has been releasing a love song or two every Valentine’s Day for well over a dozen years, and last year’s release included the Ramones’ “I Want You Around”. The song included guitar parts by two of Sacramento’s finest, and the dream of recreating this now “legendary” (to Kepi) comp tape became a passionate vision. Enlisting the production talents of his lifelong Ghoulie buddy Eric Bianchi, the two started recording tracks, with various talented friends, adding keyboards, horns, or whatever was needed to compliment the timeless melodies…”

This is an acoustic, lo-fi release. Kepi sings in his unique style with nods to singer Joey Ramone, which makes this quite unique and lovely. All songs are ballads, but in the style of the Ramones. Sweet, but a bit edgy, street smart if you will. Eric Bianchi on bass, guitar, chimes, percussion, horns, piano and strings. Other contributors on various tracks: Steve Randall guitar and lap steel, J. Bickley guitar, Steve Amaral guitar, Dave Brockman piano.

1. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (2:48) – mid tempo, a nice warm up for the whole album.
2. I Remember You 3:01- pretty strummy guitar and piano.
3. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (2:49) – one of the sadder and dramatic sounding from this release.
4. Needles and Pins (2:24) – pretty, melancholy lyrically, but upbeat in sound.
5. Questioningly (3:29) – this track has some good twang, the steel guitar is oh so pretty.
6. I want You Around (2:52) – pretty, just like the original
7. Baby I Love You (3:33) – the horns were a surprise to me. They give the track an 80’s feel. The original was also from the 80’s but no horns!
8. She’s a Sensation (3:46) –it’s quiet, but upbeat and happy sounding. What’s not to love?
9. 7-11 (4:02) – mid tempo – mellow, slightly dark and moody with cracks of thunder and lightning, dramatic with a very prominent bass sound - nice!
10. My Kind of Girl (3:19) – a NYC punk love song. Swoon.
11. Howling at the Moon (4:22) – not a love song 100%, but definitely one of the more inspiring Ramones songs. Great version
12. She Belongs to Me (3:46) – this not a typical love song. It’s more like a warning. Kepi’s version brings in the piano, not synthesizers like the Ramones version.
13. Bye Bye Baby 2:59 – evokes the melancholiest (for me at least) feels, the musical backing on this track is complex yet very simple. This is a beautiful love song, but the love story is over.