The Ramones came back into fashion a decade or so ago, but interest in the band has withered away since, says Derek McArthur. Are the punk pioneers now officially uncool?

If you asked me when I was younger, I’d probably say the Ramones were the coolest band that ever lived.

But coolness is a fragile beast. One day, three chords and a leather jacket are the ultimate signifiers of cool, the next it’s the passe phase of an out-of-touch try-hard.

It's a shame, the fickleness of cool. The Ramones created a blueprint that has sustained and resonated for decades, rejecting the pretension, virtuosity, and endless overambition of the stadium and progressive rock acts of the 1970s that were just waiting to be blown away by the simple snarl of punk rock.

But the chatter about the band and their influence is now arguably at an all-time low.

About ten to fifteen years ago, the punk pioneers eating refried beans in Queens were everywhere. Nary a high street could be walked down without their instantly recognisable logo staring back. It even nestled sweetly in the cheap t-shirt section of Primark, selling among the Disney-licensed fare and Stewie Griffin graphic tees. Perhaps we might already be hitting the reason why the........

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