The Undertones
The Undertones
1979
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.
Wikipedia1001 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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
upbeat energetic old school punk. nice and melodic. its short enough so as not to get repetitive. really good album
Incredibly punchy proto pop punk. This is concise, lean, and full of fun.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Such a distinct yet immediately recognizable guitar sound. That vocally warble is great. Love this
I Gotta Getta – perfect bass drum. Rhythmically offset lyrics – first song is a gem. For 1979 wow.
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!!!
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!
Classic, crisp and snappy punk tunes with witty lyrics. A perfect example of intelligent melodic punk
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/hodges/images/4/44/3281150-teenage_knix.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190810144317
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.
Very cool old-school punk album. Sounds a lot like the first Clash album.
Honestly one of the best discoveries I’ve had going through these albums. This is absolutely my shit.
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 🌟
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
Let's go baby. The drums on Family Entertainment is the big hook. A collection of grooving, uptempo old school Brit punk.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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
A legendary album with one of the best songs ever written included. Great range of songs that have a real kick
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.
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.
Last 3 tracks easily the best. Boss lyrics for days. Not my usual thing but enjoyable enough to listen to again. 7/10
I like a few of the songs they feel very soundtrack walking to the pub lol but some of them are annoying
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
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
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.
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
Was v tempted to give a 5. Very consistent considering the number of tracks
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.
Enjoyed this- "over you" being my favourite. The Vaccines doing a good job of keeping this sound relevant today
Enjoyed this a lot more than I thought! I usually don’t dig the original punk bands so much, this was a great album!
This is a good one to bring up the mood from work too. The recording quality doesn't seem quite as good as Ash - 1977, but it is also two decades older. Probably still going to give this a 4.
So viele Songs, hier muss ich noch mal zurück kehren. Gefällt mir soweit aber gut.
The precursor to my beloved pop punk! I’m a sucker for this sort of thing and found this to be an incredibly enjoyable listen that I had on repeat all day.
-Nice, solid classic rock-esque album -I liked it, although nothing stood out -probably go back and relisten to most tracks
It's funny. I wasn't too excited about the other album from The Undertones but this album was a good solid rocker from start to finish. I can imagine that these guys were a real hit live.
Gotta say I liked their second album better. This one is still fun and energetic, and they know how to hook you to start an album (Family Entertainment is a great/catchy opening track and Girls Don't Like it is similar at #2). But it was a bit more uneven and didn't always keep ahold of me. I know their style and this whole genre is often juvenile, but some songs I thought "really, you wrote about that?" (case in point, Mars Bars...and I love Mars bars). The main guitar riff in Teenage Kicks sounds oh so familiar - like they ripped off Anarchy in the UK or God Save the Queen. Or maybe some song after them that I know ripped them off? Still a good tune, but left me wondering. Might be rating them a bit high because of how much I liked their sophomore release.
Can’t dismiss The Undertones as just another punk rock group. I gave it a good listen and heard influences from the styles of the 50’s through the 70’s and yet their sound is original. I especially liked the guitar on Teenage Kicks. They push so hard on Jump Boys that the drummer can’t keep up with the fills! Solid album.
So much of this sounds like Delay. I hear a little Against Me! in here at times as well. I like this a lot. Very melodic punk. Proto pop punk even.
grande scoperta, punk poppettoso con pezzi da due minuti l'uno, godereccio