Pure Alchemy (or, "It's Gold, Jerry! Gold!!)

Album: Ramones, Subterranean Jungle, 1983

Best Cover Tracks: "Little Bit o' Soul" and "Time Has Come Today" (tie)

Best Original Track: "Psycho Therapy"

Lasting Memory: Invoking the statute of limitations for petit larceny in Virginia, I can now admit that I stole the Ramones' Subterranean Jungle from my sister Sue sometime between September 1987 and May 1988. The exact date of the crime escapes me, but I know the time frame because my lifting of the cassette was a crime of opportunity compelled by artistic considerations.

Sue went away to college that fall, and she left behind Subterranean Jungle. Taking it out of her vacated bedroom and pretending it had always been mine was absolutely the punk rockest thing to do. Perfection in acquisition, if you will.

Appropriate, then, that Subterranean Jungle pivots around the song that I will nominate as the quintessence of the Ramones aesthetic, "Psycho Therapy."





If "Psycho Therapy" sounds an awful lot like most other the Ramones' songs, well, look up the definition of "quintessence." Subterranean Jungle features other strong, enjoyable songs, such as "Outsider" and "Somebody Like Me." It also closes with the best-named song ever, "Everytime I Eat Vegetables It Makes Me Think of You."

But no song better encapsulates the bubble gum-meets-gutter punk sound the Ramones were going for than does "Psycho Therapy." While the lyrics and fuzztone tell a tale of violent, felonious mental illness, the backbeat and melody seem directly lifted from an Archies recording session. I love it. You should, too.

Up Next: Ramones, Too Tough to Die, 1984