blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with undertones

You Gotta Getta
5 Out of 5 Stars

This was a great blast of rock sugar from a bunch of teenage dreamers. They armed themselves with guitars, a DIY work ethic, and began bashing out three chord ditties about girls, cars, guys they were jealous of, girls and more girls. (And Mars Bars.) Whatever they may have lacked in experience, they more than made up for in exuberance. Feargel Sharkey had a voice that just boiled over with hormonal confusion and cockiness, and was so unique that no-one's matched him since. The rest of the band just tore into their instruments with all the speed that their systems' race through adolescent upheaval could keep up with. And while many slogged them off as non-political kids in punk's nihilist rage, The Undertones probably had a greater impact than most of the angry messengers of the era. Why, you may ask?

Because The Undertones inherently understood that "Teenage Kicks" and its never distant parallel of teenage pain never fade from the scope of human existence, but momentary anger of and rage at the times usually does. Well, then again, maybe they didn't at the time. But this music still means more today than most of, say, Stiff Little Fingers or Gang of Four's library. And let's face it, there was only one Clash. Seeing as most of The Undertones were under 18 at the time of their first album, "The Undertones" subject matter of "She's a Run Around" probably weighed in heavier on their lives than "Julie's In The Drug Squad."

It's that kind of joyous carousing that keeps "The Undertones" from ever once sounding like less than a rock and roll epiphany. My only real quibble is the cover art (I miss the colorful high angle shot; the drab picture used here siphons off the fun feeling of the album I originally owned). Along with the first three Ramones albums, The Undertones' first two albums are a cheering jolt of electricity from a period when you could still pick up a guitar and feel like you could say whatever was on your mind. Even if the priority topic was "Let's Talk About Girls."

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Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Teenage Kicks" The Undertones

A Touch Too Much
3 Out Of 5 Stars

By the time The Undertones got around to their third album, "Positive Touch," their world had completely changed. No longer a gang of teenaged scruffs, they'd moved into their twenties and were somewhat affluent pop stars. The drive and desires that would have them forever have singing about cars and girls were supplanted by the fact that they all had cars, girls and even were property owners. Out was the hunger to impress the babes, in was the desire to express the artist within.

"Positive Touch" is the result of that desire given run of the studio. While it certainly doesn't lack for great catchy songs, the band couldn't keep their impulses in check. As a result, "Life's Too Easy," a song that would have sounded great stripped to its basics is buried in a mish-mosh of bad piano and overwrought production. (Even the band must have figured that out, the single remix/bonus track sounds infinitely better.)

There are also the O'Neill brothers' forays into psychedelia, as witnessed by "Julie Ocean" and "Sigh and Explode." While interesting, it also began to show Feargel Sharkey's limitations as a vocalist even as his ambitions were starting to exceed his grasp. Sharkey really didn't have the chops to sing soulfully, although "You're Welcome" reaches pretty hard and almost succeeds. (As would his eventual unlistenable solo albums.)

If you want the kind of brilliant fast pop tunes that The Undertones provided on their first two albums, they're still here. Songs like "His Good Looking Girlfriend," "Boy Wonder" and "It's Going to Happen" still show that the Tones' had a knack for an ace hook. "Positive Touch" still holds a spot in my library (the overly dense "Sin Of Pride" never stayed), but I really can't rate it any higher than average. In this case, getting older got the better of The Undertones.

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Current Mood: peaceful
Current Location: Ph
Current Music: "His Good Looking Girlfriend" The Undetones

It's Never Too Late to Enjoy Dumb Entertainment
4 Out Of 5 Stars

On their second album, The Undertones opened with what is probably one of the great self effacing songs of all time. An early criticism of the band was that they were lightweights in the shadow of punk's heavy political hitters like the Clash or the Sex Pistols. They countered with tongue planted firmly in cheek:

"So here's more songs about chocolate and girls.
It's not so easy knowing they'll be heard.
A lot less time but a lot more care,
so here's more songs about chocolate and girls."

Having taken all the starch out of their image, The Undertones then embarked on a rowdy record that pushed their envelope as writers and musicians. A year on the road (and a US tour) had sharpened them as a band, with John and Damien O'Neill becoming observant songwriters. The characters that fill the songs like "What's With Terry," "There Goes Norman" and "My Perfect Cousin" may not have been all that far removed from the debut album's "Jimmy Jimmy," but were a lot better defined. And that the songs still had the hooky charm and speed of the first record didn't hurt either.

The seeds of experimentation were just beginning to take hold as well. What was side two of the original album contained the more sophisticated song arrangements of "Wednesday Week" and "Tear Proof," finding the band toying with sonics but not yet being spoiled by them. Feargel Sharkey had become confident enough to wade into a classic cover of "Under The Boardwalk" and make it his own. Unfortunately, this maturation would sap the band's charm by the next album. To that extent, much like their debut, "Hypnotised" is a marvel of adolescent randiness and joy. If you are a lover of the pure energy of the Ramones first three platters or even the Buzzcocks, then the Undertones' first two records are must haves.