I've always had a love for pop-punk, but the stuff that was popular in my adolescence (Blink-182, Sum 41, etc.) always seemed a lot longer on the pop than the punk. I'm not sure how Northern Ireland's short-lived Undertones first appeared on my radar, but I found an antidote to the polished pop-punk of my day in their mix of muscular riffs, dirty guitar tone & stop-start punk energy with sharp pop sensibilities, insanely catchy melodies, & teenage guilelessness. The easiest comparison is probably England's more famous (& longer-lasting) Buzzcocks, but there is a whole lot of Ramones & New York Dolls in the band's DNA, & many of their songs feature the kind of boogie-woogie riffing I associate with glam rock bands like Sweet.
The lyrics are...well, about girls almost exclusively. They're not really worth mentioning except to say that the sentiments made more sense to me when I was 16, & the band aren't 1-trick ponies: "Jimmy Jimmy" about a troubled suicidal kid, "Male Model" & "Mars Bars" about exactly what their titles suggest, are all hiding in amongst the adolescent hormones. But the real story here is the music. Lead singer Feargal Sharkey uses an unforgettable quavering tenor, like an even quirkier version of Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley, & makes no attempt to hide his Northern Irish brogue. Though Sharkey is the focal point in all the songs, the heavy lifting is done by the guitarist team of brothers Damian & John O'Neill. The interplay of chugging rhythm riffs from John & everpresent, rollicking leads from Damian would be cool enough, but they also contribute harmonized backing vocals on almost every song, from oohs & ahhs to call & response. The brothers embody a microcosm of the band itself: their guitars bring the punk, their vocals bring the pop, & they do both with such infectious optimism I dare you not to sing along.
The twin-guitar attack, lead & backing vocals, plus solid bass & drums are the musical blueprint for the whole album, but there are a handful of unexpected instruments like organ on "Here Comes the Summer" & "I Gotta Getta," plus some kind of keyboards on "(She's a) Runaround." Drummer Billy Doherty is no slouch, contributing thundering toms on the diabolically catchy "Get Over You," my favorite song on the record & probably the most glam-rock influenced. The album is full of subtle little songwriting touches like the key change in the middle of "I Know a Girl." It all adds up to something frothy, fun & deceptively intelligent.
I'm glad this one popped up when it did, because I've always associated pop-punk with springtime. I spent a lot of time with this album & others like it in high school, driving around with the windows down & no particular place to go. I don't know if this flavor of pop-punk is really that great or if it just makes me feel young again. All I know for sure is that The Undertones (& their archivists at Rykodisc) crammed 23 songs in just under 47 minutes that go down easier than a frosty lemonade on a summer day--& it gets better the louder you turn it up.
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