It's only looking through The Bluetones' songs trying to decide what to right about next that I realise just how many covers they've done as B-sides throughout their career. Mainly in the Science & Nature/The Singles/Luxembourg eras, which says something about the demands of releasing two CD versions of each single with B-sides for each, I suppose.
It's quite hard not to read this Ramones cover from the "Fast Boy"/"Liquid Lips" single as a 'look, we can rock too!' statement, although it was probably born out of genuine appreciation too. It's a much less minimalist interpretation than the original, that hypnotically sparse bass buried beneath lots of guitar fuzz and drums pushed forward. What Mark lacks in cool he just about makes up for in enthusiasm, and the overall impression is now more 'beat' and a lot less 'brat'. Then there's the one inspired affectation which makes it stand out from those many B-side covers that I mentioned. It's a little lyric change - 'beat on the brat with a baseball bat' to 'beat on the brat with a cricket bat' that pokes fun at themselves but sounds no less appropriate at the same time.
mp3: Beat On The Brat the Bluetones version.
YouTube: Beat On The Brat the original.Visuals irrelevant.
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