Kepi Ghoulie – ‘Ramones In Love’ (Pirates Press)

Kepi Ghoulie – ‘Ramones In Love’ (Pirates Press)

What we have here is Kepi Ghoulies love letter to the love songs of the Ramones. Its as simple as that nothing clever justsimple versions of simple songs a homage to Da Bruddahs. Hey ho lets go! 1-2-3-4.

Kepi has been releasing a love song or two every Valentines for well over a decade and when recording ‘I Want You Around’ Kepi hit on the idea of enlisting as many friends as possible to add Keyboards, Horns, whatever was needed to pour in the love on these iconic tracks. I think its fair to say that The Ramones never really got the universal credit for their songwriting that they deserved and I know that people like Kepi feel the same and every now and then when someone with equal talent shines a light into the darkened corner of rock labelled The Ramones people always trip over the songwriting and rightly so. These Love Letters are reimagined and redefined and done so so well.

‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’ kicks things off in the simple acoustic guitar and vocal lament you could imagine and it brings a tear to my eye. Beautiful. The saxophone on ‘Baby I Love You’ reminds me of Johnny Thunders when he last toured with the oddballs – simple and sublime. Same for ‘Here Today Gone Tomorrow’. ‘Needles And Pins’ has some lush electric guitar for texture making it sound like the Byrds but one of my favourite Ramones songs is ‘Questioningly’ and there is a cover out there by Jesse Malin that was a wonderful take on such a beautiful song and Kepi has taken it somewhere else with the lap steel.

‘Baby I Love You’ from the Phil Spector wall of sound album is taken on a trip with just acoustic guitar and saxophone is the sound of heartbreak and the strained vocals are just what this version needs. It might be hard to mix it up but not picking the mega hits and instead digging deep for tracks like ‘She’s A Sensation’, ‘7-11’ being almost acapella and ‘My Kinda Girl’ so its a great mix of deep cuts and course the more appropriate love songs.

If you love Da Bruddahs and Kepi Ghoulie or just want to hear something softer and downright interesting then this has to be something you need to check out besides if you’re having a candlelight meal for you and your love then this will earn brownie points for sure. Stick with it though because ‘She ‘Belongs To Me’ and ‘Bye Bye Baby’ are probably two of the best songs on offer for interpretation and delivery. Keep em coming Kepi I’m loving your work. Buy It!

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Author: Dom Daley

Kepi & Friends – ‘Full Moon Forever’ (Pirates Press Records)

Kepi & Friends – ‘Full Moon Forever’ (Pirates Press Records)

Tease your hair back and paint those nails black. Close the curtains and turn the stereo up because today is a good day to embrace your inner Goth. Kepi Ghoulie leans on his favourite singers and bands and turns in a wonderful set of covers to celebrate their music…and why not? I adore some of the bands he’s chosen to cover – either a pretty straight tip of the hat or a twist on a classic it matters not if the end product stands up tall to the test.

Opening with the Bowie Classic ‘Heroes’ is a pretty ballsy move. Sure nobody is going to outdo the original we all know that but to turn in an anywhere close version is worth turning up and applauding and to be fair Kepi does just that.

When Ara Babajian of the Slackers approached Kepi about having an all-new challenge, Kepi jumped at the chance to work with his long-time friend and drummer hero! Bass player? B-face!!!! With a solid rhythm section secured, they started selecting songs that they loved!  Selections by Nick Cave, Peter Murphy, Lou Reed, and Iggy Pop and of course Bowie and Bolan this is a win win for me. The record includes contributions from Ian Fowles (Aquabats, Gerard Way), Prima Donna’s Aaron Minton and Kevin Preston (also currently playing in Green Day), and several other friends, with artwork by artist Tom Neely. and there are some bangers like ‘Perfect Girl’ and ‘Happy When It Rains’ which actually sounds like the band are grinning from ear to ear through the grooves. Its a stellar line up and getting in the Prima Donna boys is a great move because we love those guys at RPM Online they’ve never made a dull record and know what they’re doing and add some love and attention to detail.

‘Take Care Of Me’ is a killer and the one thing you do notice is Kepi dives deep and doesn’t champion or lean on the big hitters which is obvious as he didn’t go for ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ or ‘Lust For Life’ and to be fair he owns these covers and wipes them clean with his style. Sure ‘Heroes’ is an iconic Bowie song but why not dip into those greatest hits packages now and then?

the standouts for me have to be covering the Lords Of The New Church for a start and then hitting ‘Don’t Worry Children’; taking care of it is a joy to hear. I tip my hat to Kepi for this cover’s record it’s blown me away even the tracks by bands I’m not so familiar with like The Cars have given me a great appreciation for the artist and what makes him tick. Music is a broad church and knowing there are a thousand ways to interpret it is what keeps us coming back even when it’s borrowing someone else’s songs that you love and owning them.

My advice is absolutely to check this shit out its all killer and has absolutely no filler. Jesus and Mary Chain, Lords, Iggy, Bowie and Pete Murphy man these guys have been rooting through my collection. Oh, and of course it’s on purple vinyl. Now if you do happen to see any Goths outside not under an umbrella please send them home and make sure they have a copy of this record to keep them indoors

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Author: Dom Daley