Fat Wreck Chords has\u00a0released the newest single from punk rocker,\u00a0CJ Ramone,”Understand Me?” and it’s a garage-punk tune\u00a0addressed to an unnamed listener who really doesn\u2019t seem to understand him.\u00a0Was it actually written with someone in mind? CJ laughs and says, \u201cEvery girl I\u2019ve ever dated thought I wrote hateful songs about them, or I\u2019ve had friends like, \u2018Are you trying to say that to me?\u2019 It\u2019s nice to put it out there without explanation and let people take it however they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Backing Ramone on the single (and the upcoming full-length\u00a0Last Chance To Dance<\/i>) is the same all-star unit he pulled together for his 2012 solo debut: Dan Root and Steve Soto from The Adolescents and David Hidalgo Jr. of Social Distortion. Packing in even more punk rock star power, the single\u2019s non-album b-side is a cover of Black Flag\u2019s \u201cRise Above,\u201d featuring guitar and background vocals by Dez Cadena of Black Flag and the Misfits.<\/p>\n
While not\u00a0strictly<\/i>\u00a0making music in the vein of his former band, Ramone doesn\u2019t shy away from writing songs that hark back to the golden age of punk. \u201cI was lucky enough to spend seven years in a band that I was already a huge fan of\u2014arguably one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time,\u201d he says. \u201cI want to do everything I can to keep that spirit alive as long as I can and get it to a couple more generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so does Fat.<\/p>\n