Eleven years after his death and punk legend Joey Ramone is still one of the most oft-referenced, highly regarded musical icons of our time. Next week, his second posthumous album ‘…Ya Know?’ gets a release, and to celebrate we’ve dug behind the scenes, talking to the people who knew him best, to learn the real story of the man who changed rock’n’roll forever.

Elsewhere in the mag we chat to Thurlow sisters 2:54, whose doomy aesthetic has a touch of the Ramones about them too, get the lowdown on 2012’s most eccentric new popstar Willis Earl Beal (spoiler alert: he thinks he’s a wizard) and catch up with Newcastle comeback kids Maximo Park about why we’re all doomed.

Then head over to Radar to crib up on our in-depth guide to the hottest new acts at last weekend’s Great Escape festival. There’s a Geldof involved, and it actually isn’t crap…

Plus, ahead of their super exclusive comeback shows this week, we try and work out what The xx have been up to since the release of their Mercury-slaying, self-title debut.

Also, following the tragic death of Adam Yauch, we take a look back at the Beastie Boys’ legacy and weigh up which of their classic albums is at the top of the pile. Whether you’re a fan of ‘Licensed To Ill’, ‘Hello Nasty’ or anything in between, you can’t argue that there’s some gems to be found in the Boys’ collection.

And if that’s not enough we’ve got reviews of new releases from The Enemy, rising hip-hop star Mac Miller and Aussie favourites The Temper Trap, as well as mammoth, inter-city festival gig reports from the Camden Crawl, Bristol’s Simple Things and Live At Leeds.

Subscribe to NME here, or get this week’s digital issue

NME.COM blogs contain the opinions of the individual writer and not necessarily those of NME magazine or NME.COM.

DOWNLOAD