Pop Music Reviews : Ramones’ No-Growth Movement at Palladium

No one can accuse the Ramones of being trendy. Long before recycling became fashionable, New York’s punk pioneers were using the same riffs, the same chords, the same catch phrases, the same minimal melodies, even the same style of leather jacket over and over again. Sixteen years after the band’s first album, it’s hard to point to any evolution in style or substance.

The Ramones’ stasis might account for the obvious scarcity of longtime fans among the callow masses packed into the Hollywood Palladium on Wednesday for the opening of a three-night stand. Because the band refuses to age with its audience, it must find an entirely new fan base every few years. Luckily for the Ramones, there will always be teen-age boys.

Those on hand Wednesday loved the nonstop barrage of Ramones classics and Ramones classics disguised as new songs. Ectomorphic lead singer Joey Ramone has not changed his posture in 18 years: left leg forward with knee bent, right leg extended straight out behind him. He raced through the hourlong set with nary a word to the audience save an expletive-laced exhortation to vote, and a veiled jab at the head of the group’s former record company.

Joey’s taciturnity extended itself to his singing. On older numbers like “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” he sang only every second or third word, though no one in the churning crowd seemed to notice. New bassist C.J. Ramone was notable mainly for his youth, but he certainly did nothing to distract from the glorious noise that is the Ramones’ calling card. The same can’t be said for Robbie Krieger, the Doors guitarist who came on stage for the Ramones’ rendition of “Take It As It Comes.” His rather intricate guitar playing couldn’t have been more out of place.

The Ramones also play Saturday at the Starlight Bowl in San Diego.