I just want to have something to do/...tonight

THE NEXT CUT, "Wanted Everthing," reinforces that punk tone. By this point the record has fallen into a pattern. The lyrics are a bit more laid back than the old favorites like "Teenage Lobotomy," or "Sheena is a Punk Rocker," (both from the rocket to Russia album), and the music is certainly slicker, but the basic feeling produced by any Ramones album is the same. After listening to one, with the volume dial set above '7', the only choice left for the night is between casual acts of petty destruction or serious chemical personality alterations.

The album has a few more cuts that might appeal to a much wider circle, however, than those presently engaged in concentrated punk. The most surprising song yet to come from the Ramones is the next to last song on the record, "Needles and Pins." Like the other slow tune, "Questioningly," "Needles and Pins" is a lover's plaint. Again, there is the problem that Joey Ramone simply sounds weird doing what is actually a creditable Elvis imitation as he sings of failed teenage love. But I suppose I could get used to it, and the song is one more mark of how relatively versatile the group has become.

After all the trash that has come out lately from "Boogie Oogie Oogie" to "Y.M.C.A." it is a relief to be able to sit back and be able to generate some crank just by listening to a genuine article. And if that doesn't satisfy, you can always follow Johnny and sit

Staring at my goldfish

Popping phenobarbitol

My life is beautiful--

I'll go mental.