gabba first album coverThe other day I downloaded this bands first album Gabba - Leave Stockholm (a pisstake on the Ramones second album ‘Leave Home’. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not exactly brilliantly recorded or fantastic. But what a fantastic parody. Gabba are equal parts ABBA and the Ramones.  And yes, that means punked up versions of Knowing Me, Knowing You and Waterloo. But it also means faintly disco concessions to Ramones songs.

So the Ramones aesthetic is obvious, these dudes don stripey shirts, bowl haircuts and black leather jackets. The addition of a blonde bombshell Anneke adds the necessary Abba. Judging by their web site www.gabba.co.uk, the band appear to have put out two more albums since Leave Stockholm and are touring in 2006. But the satire is laid on so thick, right down to the Ramones most infamous producer (Phil Spector) and their long time tour manager (Monte Melnick), it’s hard to establish anything about this band but they’re based in the UK. I’m not even sure if they’re Swedish!

They would have to be fantastic to see live. In fact this level of piss taking can only have originated from England. So i’m going to go out on a limb and say they’re plain old John Bull English. Unfortunately with the first release, they’re nowhere near as good as Beatallica.

Anyway, if you like your satire rock, check them out. They can only have improved since the first album.