Album Review: Deals, Deals, Deals! by Ramona

The proficiency in which Red Scare Industries release top quality albums by new bands is just ridiculous. Toby Jeg has a really good ear for incredible up and coming bands. One of the latest in a long line of great bands on the Red Scare roster are Philadelphia via Seattle indie pop punk three piece Ramona. The band, which consists of guitarist and vocalist Diego Merano, bassist and vocalist Abby Vickderman, and drummer Shannon Ledbetter released a new album in June named Deals, Deals, Deals!

The opening track is named Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Hearts. It begins with a pounding drum beat and some whirly guitar before things get switched up for some short and punchy vocal delivery from Abby Vickderman. The way in which Abby's vocals are delivered add a whole bunch of energy to the song, setting the stall out for the entire album. Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Hearts is about returning to an old relationship again and again, knowing that it never works out and how you always make the same mistakes. Not Your Token was a standout song on my first listen of Deals, Deals, Deals! It's the first time on the album where Ramona really show off their biggest strength, Diego Merano and Abby sharing vocals duties on the same song. Diego's raspier vocal compliments Abby's perfectly and creates a great dynamic. It's a track where Ramona sing about being minorities in a predominantly white male scene and how they shouldn't be judged by that. They’re aiming to teach people that no matter what your background might be, you should be judged on your ability and nothing else.

The third track, Hater's Ball Parade, is a sad song about breaking up with your partner and dealing with your feelings afterwards. The chorus really grabbed my attention quickly as Diego and Abby sing "I hate you the way I hate myself too." Despite the sadness of the song, musically it actually feels pretty chipper. This is probably due to the high tempo that the song is played at and it's so catchy you'll be unable to stop yourself singing along. Shit, We Broke Up sees Abby take the lead again with this song about coming to the end of a relationship and thinking back to the good times you had together. I'm not a huge fan of break up songs but Shit, We Broke Up really paints the picture of this scenario perfectly. Abby does a spectacular job in articulating the things everyone goes through and the thoughts that they have during these difficult times. I'm sure so many listeners will relate and find the song extremely cathartic.

Hard Sulks is another where Diego and Abby share vocals. I love how they trade off lines, making the song feel like a conversation between the two of them. This add so much energy to the track and really got me pumped up. I wanted to have a great big dance while the song was playing but I can't dance and type at the same time so had to refrain. Hard Sulks is about not wanting to get into a relationship because you think it's all going to end terribly. The sixth song, the brilliantly titled Is This Emo?, starts out slowly with just Abby's vocals and some atmospheric guitar. It's not long before the band come in and the tempo increases. Lyrically Abby again paints this wonderful picture of a break up. It seems as if they have had a pretty terrible time of relationships in the past. I hope things are better now. As the song progresses, it builds and builds and soon we get some wonderful harmonies. I do love a harmony and the ones that Diego provides at the end of the song are some of my favourites I've heard this year.

Are We Having Fun Yet? sees Ramona tackle the subject of living with anxiety and not wanting people to see the real you incase they don't like it. I really enjoyed the way in which the song begins, just welcoming you to get involved and sing along. The chugging guitar alongside what's almost a spoken word style of singing gradually build the song up to its chorus. Throughout Diego's outstanding work in this intro, Abby supplies some great harmonies to really give another layer to the track. Song number eight is titled Panama By Van Halen. Teasing that the track would be a slow starter before quickly switching to some fast paced pop punk was a great way to begin things. Diego seems to have a bit more venom in his vocals here which adds some urgency to things. The track is one of the catchiest on Deals, Deals, Deals! which is really saying something as every single song so far has found a nice place to live in my head.

The penultimate song on the album is named Getting There. I hope this place here in the tracklisting on purpose as we're reaching the end of the album. This is the only track on Deals, Deals, Deals! that goes over three minutes in length and Abby really shines with some super emotional vocals. It's a really retrospective song where Abby looks at how they were in the past compared to the present day. Things get more positive during the chorus as the line "I'm not quite better but I'm getting there, I'm not quite better yet" is repeated over and over again. I imagine that this is really special live. The final song on the album is Mambo 69. Ensuring that Deals, Deals, Deals finishes with a flurry, it starts out really fast with Diego and Abby again trading lines and just sounding the best. As the song progresses the pace of the song is slowed, allowing for a big sing-along to finish things up. Mambo 69 is about remembering the things that you love no matter how dark things can get sometimes. It's a super positive way to end a fantastic album.

Deals, Deals, Deals! is a definite album of the year contender for me. I've listened to it over and over whilst reviewing and I keep finding new little bits that I just love. Ramona are going to become a big name in the punk scene in the years to come. Red Scare have unearthed yet another gem.

Stream and download Deals, Deals, Deals! here: https://ramonamusic.bandcamp.com/album/deals-deals-deals

Like Ramona here: http://facebook.com/ramona206

This review was written by Colin Clark.