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The Undertones

The Undertones

1979
The Undertones
Album Summary

The Undertones is the 1979 debut album by the Undertones. The album was recorded at Eden Studios in Acton, West London in January 1979 and was released on 13 May that year. The original release included just one single release: "Jimmy Jimmy" and an album version of "Here Comes the Summer", which was never released as a single. A re-released version of the album (housed in an alternate sleeve), was issued in October 1979. The re-released album also included The Undertones' first two singles: "Teenage Kicks" and "Get Over You" alongside both "Jimmy Jimmy" and a single version of "Here Comes the Summer", which had been released in July. In addition, the song "Casbah Rock" was included as the final track of the album.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.25

Votes

7874
Genres
Rock
New Wave
Punk

Reviews

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Mon Feb 01 2021
3

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die day 18 and boy, its going to be a long ride if I can manage to stick this out. I’m nowhere near triple digits, and this project is both rewarding and intimidating, equally. As a self described “Music Nerd”, I’m starting to realize that I’m more nerd and less knowledgeable. If you asked me to guess how many of these 1001 albums that I would know before buying this damn book, I’d confidently guess at least sixty percent. What a fool I was 18 days ago. Todays selection is the debut and self titled album from a Punk Rock slash Pop group called the Undertones. This is a great album to put on while you have a shower beer or two. It is fast paced, it’s uplifting, and the simple lyrics about girls and doing hood rat shit with your friends is enough to set the mood. Honestly though, Undertones debut album is largely forgettable. I can’t really explain it, I love these songs when they’re playing, but as soon as they’re over, I barely remember them. Bands like The Ramones sound very similar and are from the same era, yet had more lasting impressions with their compositions. I’m sure many bands took note of this band and built their craft on top of The Undertones established foundation in music, like, say, Green Day or maybe even Soundgarden. I appreciate this album, it is fun and youthful, it sounds great, it just didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. I’m sure it left enough of a lasting impression on other artists to follow their lead. Please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and memories!

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Sat Feb 19 2022
4

16 tracks? I don’t want the deluxe version, I thought. But wait! This is the original version! This will take ages to listen to. But wait again! The album clocks in at a concise 35 minutes! Now that’s an album that breaks down the door, pushes you about for a bit and then gets the hell out of there! Punky, prickly, full of teenage hormones (Teenage Kicks a perfect pop song?), high energy, a really enjoyable album.

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Sat Apr 08 2023
2

Holy hell 16 tracks and 34 minutes! I take longer pisses than some of these songs. Some pretty similar sounding pop punk songs to me. Nothing special or crazy to me though. Heard better punk.

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Tue Apr 27 2021
4

I was running late for my eldest daughter's parents evening a few years ago and didn't have time to change, so was wearing football shorts. As her geography teacher was talking some shit about how well she was doing, I felt a twinge in my stomach. I knew I was in trouble, but tried to stay composed. I'm sat there like "yeah, yeah, she knows all the capital cities of europe because of her years of child trafficking." We all laughed...but then, just as I was standing up to leave, my explosive diahorrea kicked in and launched a splurge of hearty brown liquid, splashing it all across a map of Africa. We all laughed. The Undertones were on in the car on the way home.

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Sat Jan 15 2022
3

So-called pop punk was a necessary tweak to keep punk going. You can only make angry, face spitting music for so long. The mid 70s recession had gone and by 1979 Thatcher was Prime Minister and the weary Sex Pistols fans stopped hitting the streets to burn shit and started to pop pills instead. The time was right for pop punk! This sub-genre of punk is probably the one I know best. A lot of my favourite bands like The Police, The Jam, The Pretenders, Joe Jackson were part of this and were getting traction in 1979. The Clash had been around for the angry years but they were getting more traction than ever as they embraced pop punk. I like the Undertones and the genre but the bands I note above will get the 4s and 5s. The Undertones are a few floors below.

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Tue Apr 27 2021
4

very enjoyable. norn iron doing a good.

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Wed Jun 23 2021
3

Listening to this album made me imagine my Dad careering around the streets of suburbia in his Vauxhall Viva modified with twin carbs; me in the back seat barely secured to the hot, faux leather vinyl that passed as a bench seat, him with his brown Aviators, 'tash, flared trousers and mop of hair blowing in the wind. Then I remembered he was more into Meat Loaf at the time and the daydream was shattered. Although lyrically, teenage kicks is still relevant today and the album as a whole was not unenjoyable if a little repetitive towards the end, I think this will end up forgotton, like a rusting car with Teenage Kicks as the singular component rescued and remembered in a museum of classics.

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Sat Apr 08 2023
2

The Undertones? More like the Underwhelmings. Straight forward early British punk but basically the same song 16 times on one album.

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Mon Dec 13 2021
5

Ok, I consider myself a bit of a New Wave/Punk aficionado and I knew NOTHING about this group. Never heard of them. BLOWN. AWAY. This is what I love about this list. This. So obsessed.

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Mon Jun 20 2022
5

upbeat energetic old school punk. nice and melodic. its short enough so as not to get repetitive. really good album

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Tue Jul 05 2022
5

Incredibly punchy proto pop punk. This is concise, lean, and full of fun.

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Thu Mar 04 2021
4

Sometimes the lyrics are a little problematic but overall I really like the album. High energy, I like the backup vocals being quite present, good performance, no lazy band members, singer is decent. Quantity over quality is a little issue, with most of the music being pretty simplistic, but does a great job as punk rock music. Does have a bit of variety but they mostly stick to fast-paced jams. Want to see their later stuff as apparently they change their style up.

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Mon Jan 24 2022
4

One of the earliest pop-punk records, and it goes hard! The hooks are catchy with lots of energy, while still staying true to it's punk roots. Much less far removed than later pop-punk records, but all music evolves in some way. With all the songs on here, some of them don't stand too well, but the general tone of the record supports the lesser songs by keeping things moving.

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Tue Feb 01 2022
4

This is a new band for me. Although not usually my style, The Undertones have produced a fairly decent album. It is an upbeat, simple and enjoyable album. With so many songs on the album, however, towards the end, they become a bit muddled and you kind of forget that they are separate songs. A good album but sadly I feel a forgettable one too.

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Sun Jul 23 2023
4

I don’t know if it’s writers block, but I’ve started, stopped and restarted writing this review at least three times. I’ve tried a few different approaches so far, but, really, it just boils down to this: This is my type of punk. Give me a record like this over anything by the Clash or Pistols any day of the week.

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Tue Apr 27 2021
3

John Peel's wet dream. I could only just about muster a semi.

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Sat Jan 15 2022
3

Feargal Sharkey has such a great voice, and a great name for a rock star. The lyrics make you ask "Wow how young are these guys?" The songs are kind of throw-away, yet more complex and melodic that the 2-minute ditties we've received by American hardcore bans, with a few hit worthy like Teenage Kicks and Jimmy Jimmy.

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Fri Jun 18 2021
2

Meh, I guess you had to have been there.

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Sat Apr 08 2023
2

Out of all of the British punk albums we have listened to that was definitely one of them. Didn't love it or hate it. Just 34 minutes of music. Hilarious that they fit 16 songs into that amount of time

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Wed Jun 02 2021
5

Such a distinct yet immediately recognizable guitar sound. That vocally warble is great. Love this

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Mon Mar 22 2021
5

One of my all time favorites

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Tue Sep 14 2021
5

I Gotta Getta – perfect bass drum. Rhythmically offset lyrics – first song is a gem. For 1979 wow.

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Thu Sep 16 2021
5

Очень бодрый альбом и современно звучит! Легко могу представить его в саундтреке Тони Хоука, хотя он, вероятно, там уже есть. Очень классные песни, сразу хочется и танцевать и подпевать. И тут есть тинейдж кикс!!!

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Sun Sep 19 2021
5

Never heard of this band before. Catchy… really fun! Favorite track: Get Over You. But I enjoyed the whole album. This sounds more modern to me than 1979. Lots of little musical surprises scattered throughout. Love the lead singer’s vocals. Definitely adding this to my library!

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Sun Sep 26 2021
5

Classic, crisp and snappy punk tunes with witty lyrics. A perfect example of intelligent melodic punk

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Tue Oct 05 2021
5

great album, don't think there was a song I didn't like really

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Tue Oct 05 2021
5

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/hodges/images/4/44/3281150-teenage_knix.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190810144317

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Thu Oct 21 2021
5

Initial thought: how many songs?! Good job The Undertones are ace... and many of them are short anyhow. Great fun rattling through this lot, it flew by. I love it.

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Wed Nov 10 2021
5

Exactly what I want from early punk

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Thu Nov 25 2021
5

Very cool old-school punk album. Sounds a lot like the first Clash album.

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Sat Jan 15 2022
5

Honestly one of the best discoveries I’ve had going through these albums. This is absolutely my shit.

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Sat Jan 29 2022
5

What a great album. This is what rock and roll is all about. Young talented kids playing with an energy and joy that is absolutely infectious. 5 🌟

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Tue Apr 19 2022
5

This is one of the reasons I come to this site! An amazing band I’ve never heard of, becoming something I want to listen to repeatedly

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Wed Apr 20 2022
5

Let's go baby. The drums on Family Entertainment is the big hook. A collection of grooving, uptempo old school Brit punk.

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Wed May 04 2022
5

But of a wild album. Sounds like if the Dead Kennedy's made an album in the style of Rocky Horror Picture Show. And I've got absolutely no complaints. Big thumbs up from this guy.

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Sat Jun 25 2022
5

Oh, every different flavour of yes! So this is a brilliant album. Northern Irish. Equally angry as joyful. An almost perfect rock album. The only criticism I could level at it is that it doesn't include "It's going to happen".

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Tue Aug 23 2022
5

I've only been doing this for a few days and this is the first album I've heard that made me say, "Holy shit, how did I not know about this band?" "Teenage Kicks" is a great song but this album is full of catchy hooks and fun, upbeat pop punk that will make you thing of The Clash, The Ramones, and Dead Kennedys. I love it, and I will definitely be adding The Undertones to my library.

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Sat Aug 27 2022
5

Throw the Ramones, Sex Pistols, and Clash into a blender, add a dash of Bryan Ferry's vibrato, then blend away, and I'm pretty sure the resulting concoction will be the Undertones. I don't know how this is the first time I've run across them, as this album is fantastic. This is top-notch old school punk*, and the last time I was this excited about a new (to me) band was when Roxy Music's debut album popped up a few weeks ago. I found a 26-track version of the album on YouTube, and there's a lot to love here. It starts off strong with "Family Entertainment," and while "The Girls Don't Like It," I sure do. "Teenage Kicks," "Get Over You," "Listening in," "Emergency Cases" ... So many good tracks. And a special shout-out to "Mars Bars," which is quite funny. Honestly, 26 tracks and I had no desire to skip any of them. That's the dream right there. *Except for "True Confessions," which starts with the line "Don't look so surprised," which amused me because it *was* a surprise, and came out of left field with a Devo-like new wave flavor that caught me completely off guard.

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Thu Sep 22 2022
5

epic, a must own.. 5 stars is not enough.

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Mon Nov 07 2022
5

Dang I liked this album. I hadn’t heard of them. After finishing the album I listened to it again and then looked at their other stuff. Kind of a rocking poppy punky style that was light and fun. Neat

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Wed Nov 09 2022
5

A legendary album with one of the best songs ever written included. Great range of songs that have a real kick

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Wed Nov 30 2022
5

очень хорошо :))))) люблю англичан бодренько

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Tue Dec 06 2022
5

Absolutely jam packed album. fantastic

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Fri Dec 16 2022
5

Raw energy, simple short tunes and Feargal's unmistakable voice I loved them when I was a kid and still do now. This has quite a few solid hits and one of the greatest songs of all time (Teenage Kicks). Although I prefer the later albums this is where it began and even the cover is a bold statement. Simply one of the best.

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Sun Jan 08 2023
5

Yes one of the crown jewels of punk pop. Very little to add to this which is an album I originally got on a cheap portugese grey import market vinyl and has been a joy ever since. While Teenage Kicks might not be the best song ever (in that vein I would go for Another Girl, Another Planet by The Only Ones) it is definitely top ten.

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Tue Jan 10 2023
5

9/10 simple, but that’s the way fun, punky brit-pop goes

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Fri Feb 03 2023
5

Finally a song for me, Jimmy Jimmy. Really enjoyed this album

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Fri Feb 10 2023
5

I’ve never heard of them before, but this was such a fun album!

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Sat Feb 11 2023
5

16 songs in 34 minutes? Love it. Peel was right about Teenage kicks, remains one of the most perfect songs of all time.

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Tue Feb 28 2023
5

J'ai le CD, j'ai souvent écouté Teenage Kicks, mais je n'avais jamais été beaucoup plus loin et c'est pourtant un album très cool. Quelque part entre la pop et le punk, assez The Strokes alors qu'ils étaient à peine nés. 16 titres pour 35 minutes pied au plancher. Des riffs de guitares qui s'entrecroise, une voix assez unique et écorchée. Validé !

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Thu Mar 02 2023
5

Classic punk rock with a lot of energy. Liked it quite a lot.

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Wed Mar 15 2023
5

What a brilliant album, thoroughly enjoyed listening to it

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Thu Mar 16 2023
5

This was really fun. It reminded me of 90s pop punk.

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Thu Apr 20 2023
5

An important album in both punk history and Irish music history. Teenage kicks is one of the most flawless pop punk songs ever written and the rest of the album is just as strong!

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Wed May 17 2023
5

Fun pop-punk from back in the day. This is how it's done, Green Day!

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Fri Jun 23 2023
5

Classic punk rock record. The difference between this album and The Buzzcocks is that The Undertones seem to be having fun and have zero pretension in their view of the world. Not sure there's a single bad track on this record.

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Fri Jul 14 2023
5

Does it deserve the 5 stars I’m going to give it? Maybe not quite. It’s a solid 4.5 but I’m a sucker for punk and pop-punk so it gets bumped up.

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Fri Jul 14 2023
5

A straight forward 70s punk album. Enjoyable. Five stars because it was refreshing after the last album i listened to.

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Tue Aug 01 2023
5

Punky with a definite rock and roll influence, I only knew a couple of tracks but had to give this a second listen.

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Fri Aug 11 2023
5

Was really good as well, kinda reminds me of those old high school movies 5/5

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Mon Sep 04 2023
5

Teenage Kicks! What a damn classic. Love this whole record. The blueprint for teenage angst punk rock.

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Fri Sep 22 2023
5

Never heard of this band before today and I regret it. This is a really fun album and I will be adding this to the list of albums I will listen to. What I love about this project is finding new bands such as this.

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Thu Jan 14 2021
4

Last 3 tracks easily the best. Boss lyrics for days. Not my usual thing but enjoyable enough to listen to again. 7/10

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Sun Apr 04 2021
4

Didn’t finish the album yet, but I liked what I heard😎

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Thu Jan 14 2021
4

Catchy short tunes. Leaves you wanting more. Enjoyed this album

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Fri Jan 15 2021
4

Some great simple, melodic pop punk tunes.

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Wed Jan 20 2021
4

I like a few of the songs they feel very soundtrack walking to the pub lol but some of them are annoying

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Fri Mar 26 2021
4

Really fun! Gotta love Mars Bars

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Tue May 11 2021
4

Never heard of this album or band previously. This is pretty great.

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Mon Feb 01 2021
4

More brit rock, hell yeah. Enjoyed the stranglers more, but these guys are clearly Alt. Rock of my youth, just transported to the early 80s

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Mon Feb 01 2021
4

I liked the stripped down sound, driving drums

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Sun Jul 04 2021
4

Mucho rock y de repente, parece que todo suena igual, pero hay una que otra que me parecen muy buenas. Mucha energía y sirve también para trabajar si te concentras con música así. Me gustaron "Here Comes the Summer", "True Confessions (Keyboard Version)", "One Way Love" y "Top Twenty". No sé decirlo bien, pero de repente el sonido es "adolescente", más bien en el sentido de que muchas de las banditas rockeras posteriores parecen sonar parecido o lo que se usa para soundtracks. 8/10

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Thu Mar 18 2021
4

I'm torn, because the highlights are simply great, but there's a fair bit of material that just churns away. When it works well, Sharkey's odd, bleating voice and the frequent use of repetition is electrifying - 'Here Comes The Summer' being the prime example - but songs fall flat when it misses. Also - I'm not a teenager in the late 1970s, to whom this no doubt sounded fresh and exciting, a marriage of punk spikiness and pop sweetness, but here in 2021 it doesn't quite pack the wallop. Still, there's considerable craft and some nimble songwriting on display here, so a solid four stars from me.

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Thu May 27 2021
4

Hey ! Hey ! Hey ! Power-röhrender Sound eines Ford Mustang, dazu diese verzweifelt flirrend-brechende Stimme und „Teenage Kicks“ sollte verdammt nochmal jeder einmal im Leben aufs mixtape bekommen, alright!? Yeah 3.7

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Sun May 16 2021
4

Upbringing sunny post punk effort with great melodies

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Fri Jun 18 2021
4

Was v tempted to give a 5. Very consistent considering the number of tracks

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Sun Jul 04 2021
4

Lo repetiré, no hacía falta tantos discos de punk en esta lista, pero bueno... Estuvo chido, pero nada memorable. aunque tiene más variedad que otros de punk que hemos escuchado aquí. Me gustaron Get over you y One Way Love.

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Thu May 06 2021
4

Enjoyed this- "over you" being my favourite. The Vaccines doing a good job of keeping this sound relevant today

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Sun Jan 24 2021
4

You can feel that 70s vibe. Really enjoyed it, but again long.

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Wed Apr 14 2021
4

Great early pop punk. Fun and simple

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Wed Mar 31 2021
4

Весело, но однообразно

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Thu May 13 2021
4

Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought! I usually don’t dig the original punk bands so much, this was a great album!

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