NOISE

You DJ on Sirius satellite radio and you're doing a DJ set here in Las Vegas. What types of songs do you typically play?

Songs that I think kids will like, and that I enjoy listening to. There's no hip-hop, no metal, just good songs, punk rock. I play Ramones songs, and things like Richard Hell, the Clash, Rancid, Green Day and Black Flag, pre-Henry Rollins.

Rock legend holds that Joey and Johnny didn't speak with one another for more than a decade [while the band was together]. Is it true you were the primary go-between?

Always, and I got a lot of flack from it, too. If I was talking to Johnny a lot, Joey wouldn't talk to me for a month. And if I spoke to Joey, same thing with Johnny. That's how deep it went. And it got to a point where I had to sort of back off from that situation. But I liked both of them. We were very close.

Joey, Dee Dee and Johnny all died between 2001 and 2004. How tough was that for you personally?

It was horrible. I'm still not over it. I have bad nightmares. I lived with them for 15 years on the road. We were closer than family. First it was Joey, and I had to deal with that. Then Dee Dee, who was my best friend in the band. And then Johnny. How do you deal with it? You try to think of the good times, the fun that you had, and you really try to keep the legacy alive by doing Ramones-related projects or writing a book [Marky expects to have his book, Faith and the Backbeat, out sometime in 2007]. You're a team, and if the members of your team pass away, unfortunately you're put in this position. But if I had three wishes I'd wish they were alive.

The annual July 4 Red, White & Boom! festival will stretch over two days this year, sending twice the usual number of acts to the stage at Desert Breeze Park. Get acquainted with three:

JACK'S MANNEQUIN


Everything in Transit (2.5 stars)

Something Corporate frontman Andrew McMahon recorded this side-project debut last summer, just before learning he had acute lymphatic leukemia and undergoing a bone-marrow transplant. The piano-pop tunes play like a sunny celebration of the singer-songwriter's cancer remission, though they'd hardly sound out of place on the next OC mix tape either.

Saving Jane

Girl Next DooR (2.5 stars)

Pleasant but mediocre pop-rock that should please fans of Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson. The title track is tart and catchy, but the rest is entirely forgettable.

Blue October


Foiled (2 stars)

Maybe these guys are shooting for eclectic, but this album is a mess, veering from hard rock to cloying pop to whiny ballads, all of it delivered with singer Justin Furstenfeld's overbearing voice. Hit single "Hate Me" is sort of catchy, but it's an invitation that's all too easy to accept.

Some of our favorite cuts from 2006's first six months:

1. Mogwai, "Auto-Rock"

If ever there was an archetypal dramatic opener this is it.

2. Midlake, "Roscoe"

The world could be a genuinely better place if everyone heard this brilliant ditty.

3. Band of Horses, "Funeral"

"I'm coming up only to hold you under." How's that for creepy imagery?

4. Islands, "Swans (Life After Death)"

Plays like four or five mini-songs over its epic length.

5. Cat Power, "Love & Communication"

This haunting tale demands it cap any listening fest, three or four times.

1. Pearl Jam, "World Wide Suicide"

Remember these guys? Yeah, they still rock.

2. Madonna, "Sorry"

It gets a little lost in the continuous mix of the album, but as a single this song is a slice of dance-floor heaven.

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Dani California"

Nonsensical lyrics, an undeniable hook, and the band's favorite subject: their home state. It's vintage Peppers.

4. The Wreckers, "Leave the Pieces"

Clearly, Michelle Branch has found her calling as a country-pop chanteuse.

5. In Flames, "Take This Life"

Brutal Swedish metal with a chorus so catchy you'll have it in your head for days.

I hear you snickering, but don't let that eyeliner and rouge obscure one of the hair-metal era's few genuinely interesting bands. Best remembered for its kingly manes and the "stepsisters" of its early concept videos, Cinderella actually proved it had talent to go with the packaging on bluesy second album Long Cold Winter. Sure, Tom Keifer's falsetto is a bit of a relic, but what better way to celebrate your independence than with a frontman who plays piano, pedal steel, sax and harmonica, all in the same show.

THE BLACK HEART PROCESSION


The Spell (3 stars)

As their name portends, these San Diego indie rockers specialize in dark anthems, made more weighty by a smattering of strings and lyrics like "I have waited for a spring that never came ... This is my grave." Guess they don't make it to the beach much.