The Ramonas and The Black Bullets at The Talking Heads (9/11/2012)

Ever since moving to Southampton I had heard a lot of good things about The Talking Heads. When I  realised it is literally just off the road where I live, I finally decided to check it out and go see female Ramones tribute band The Ramonas. Always a fan of girls playing rock ‘n roll, I was rather excited to see if they would deliver.

But first on were local lads The Black Bullets. They served up some boiling hot rock ‘n roll, obviously influenced by the likes of AC/DC and Motorhead. In fact, their lead singer was the spitting image of a young Lemmy. Their set did not exactly consist of anything that hasn’t been done before, but their obvious enthusiasm for dirty rocking more than makes up for that. Singer Rob Castle describes their sound as ‘straight up basic rock ‘n roll with some punk influences’ and that’s entirely accurate. Strong, catchy songs like ‘Too Loaded For Love’ and ‘Teaching Yourself To Live’ should get any self-respecting rocker going, but unfortunately the crowd didn’t seem to be too into it. Regardless, the Black Bullets are most definitely a band to look out for.

Next up were The Ramonas. In their cut-off jeans and aviator sunglasses they looked exactly like you want female Ramones to look, and musically they absolutely did not disappoint. They rapidly went through a set of all of the legendary punk band’s greatest hits, from ‘Teenage Lobotomy’ to ‘Pet Cemetery’ and the obligatory ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, showing undeniable musical talent and great showwomanship. All-girl rock bands are unfortunately still a rare thing to encounter, and personally I would absolutely love to see more bands like this. I do wonder if The Ramonas play original material as well, as I really think they should. I left that night wanting to start a band myself!

Also, we spotted weird old chubby versions of Rod Steward and Billy Idol which obviously made the night even more awesome. All in all an excellent night out if you’re into your no-bullshit rock ‘n roll!