diso2_1000x50

An other Ramone

Uncle Monk, Club Passim, April 6, 2007
By JIM SULLIVAN  |  April 9, 2007
070413_inside_monk
Uncle Monk

The last time I saw Tommy Ramone on stage, he was at CBGB’s last stand hopping about, singing the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” with the Dictators. That was fall 2006. Last Friday at Club Passim, the original Ramones drummer (who’s also worked as a manager and producer under his given name, Tom Erdélyi) didn’t refer to his old band once — in song or in chat. The slight man with a gray ponytail played dobro and sang in a plainspoken voice, accompanied by acoustic guitarist/singer Claudia Tienan. It was an evening of straight-on, no-frills bluegrass. The link to punk?” “It’s home-brewed stuff,” Ramone explained pre-set.

Uncle Monk began as a jam-band trio before paring down to a bluegrass duo, and they now have a self-released homonymous CD on the racks. Ramone sings most of the leads, but he and Tienan hovered around one microphone at Passim, her voice coming through faintly during the 65-minute set. The down-home feel was typical of the club. And the material had a sense of sadness and melancholy. In “Need a Life,” Ramone sang about “people who never had a chance, sinking down, sinking down,” with the title serving as a desperate plea. “Walls of Time” was about “coming for you when I die.” “Home Sweet Reality” had Ramone singing “Down and out and everyone knows/Home sweet reality/Leave me alone.” And in “Mean to Me,” he kept asking the question “Why are you mean to me, why so mean to me?”

Uncle Monk aren’t the sort of bluegrass band who rely on lickety-split runs. — they moved at a measured, mid-tempo pace, no majestic highs, no wrenching lows. It was an evening of contemplative, rustic yet tuneful music, modest by design and in execution. Hard to believe this is the same guy who beat the skins on early Ramones classics like “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue,” “We’re a Happy Family,” and “Pinhead.”

Related: Gabba gabba hayride, Life after gabba-gabba, Who you callin’ a punk?, More more >
  Topics: Live Reviews , Entertainment, Music, The Ramones,  More more >
| More


Most Popular
Blogs
ARTICLES BY JIM SULLIVAN
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   INTERVIEW: CARL HIAASEN  |  July 22, 2010
    Novelist Carl Hiaasen likes to create scenarios where very bad and tremendously satisfying things happen to despicable people: crooked politicians, real-estate scammers, environment despoilers, greedy bastards of all stripes.
  •   AFTER IMAGES  |  May 28, 2010
    Karen Finley won’t be naked, or covered in chocolate. Candied yams will not be involved. If there are neighborhood morality-watch squads in Salem, they’ll have the night off.
  •   INTERVIEW: SARAH SILVERMAN  |  April 23, 2010
    Recently, “Sarah” — the character played by Sarah Silverman on Comedy Central’s The Sarah Silverman Program — was upset because in today’s world it just wasn’t safe anymore for children to get into strangers’ vans.
  •   TATTOO YOU  |  April 06, 2010
    Dr. Lakra is no more a real doctor than is Dr. Dre or Dr. Demento. The 38-year-old Mexican tattoo artist’s real name is Jerónimo López Ramírez. As for “lakra,” it means “delinquent.” Or so I thought.
  •   INTERVIEW: DAMON WAYANS  |  February 16, 2010
    "Right now, my intent is not to offend. I just want to laugh. I want to suspend reality."

 See all articles by: JIM SULLIVAN