The Punkles "The Punkles" 1998**

I found this CD cheaply at the 2nd hand Pêle-Mêle shop in Brussels and thought it'd be good for a few laughs. Obviously the cover is a spoof (or tribute?) of punk rockers Stranglers' Black and White, while the logo is derived from The Beatles, with the name being an amalgam of punk and Beatles. You won't be surprised, then, to learn that their music is consisted by sped-up, Ramones-style, Beatles songs. Now is this parody or tribute, and where's the difference? The songs, anyway, are played in earnest: faster and with more energy, but not mockingly - they're fun but they're not a joke. Do they sound good? Listen, they're Beatles compositions. You can play them in punk style, jazz, reggae, or classical - if you're not completely useless as a musician or don't actually try to mess them up, they'll never sound bad because those songs are immortal. Two songs are sung in German: "She Loves You/Sie Liebt Dich" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand/Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand". For those not familiar with The Beatles discography, the Fab Four themselves had actually recorded these songs in German and released them as a single in Germany to capitalize on their fame as a live band in Hamburg. Which is, incidentally, The Punkles' hometown. The band members' stage names consist of the first name of a Ramone and surname of a Beatle - except for bassist Sid McCartney who apparently chose to take his name from Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols. I guess "Dee Dee McCartney" sounded wrong somehow. The manager's name is (of course) Malcom McEpstein. Among the better tracks here are those recorded live: ostensibly at the Hollywood Bowling Center, with added girls' screams to reproduce the Beatlemania ambiance of the "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" Beatles album, they do have that peppy live sound. "All You Need Is Love" is less punked-up, and appears in two versions. The second "All Star version" with backing vocals by other (mostly German) punk rockers, replicating the original's all star cast of backing vocalists (The Stones, Clapton, Marianne Faithfull etc). The album ends with "The Silence of the Amps", 1,5 minute of static noise. A bit of internet searching reveals that the Punkles were also known as Prollhead, a German-language punk/metal parody band. Exactly why there are so many German rock parody bands is difficult to understand. It is a scientific fact that Germans and humour are mutually exclusive, so why even give it a try - let alone repeated ones? In any case the Japanese apparently got the joke, as 2 Punkles albums reached the Top 50 there. To me this album is only another curio for my collection. They're not bad, their music rocks amiably and they do a half-decent Beatles parody, but I can't help but compare them to The Rutles, another Beatles spoof band that had the privilege of containing members of the Monty Python comedy team, Bonzo Dog Band and The Beach Boys - the Punkles couldn't hold a candle to them...

P.S. this album is also available under the title "Beat The Punkles". Different title, different cover, same songs (with the addition of 2 bonus tracks).

*** for Eight Days a Week, Help, I Should Have Known Better, Sie Liebt Dich, Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand(live), All You Need Is Love, A Hard Days Night(live), I Feel Fine(live), Ticket to Ride(live), Can't Buy Me Love(live) 

** for Please Please Me, I Saw Her Standing There, Twist & Shout(live), All You Need Is Love (All Star version)

* for The Silence of the Amps