Hypnotised

Hypnotised is dumb pop-punk fun from a band that seems smart enough to see the value in such a thing. The melodies and riffs are catchy, and while it's far from a unique sound (even the vocalist's almost-bleating style reminded me of Roxy Music on occasion), I figured it was from further on in the 80s than it was. I feel like I'm getting an incomplete picture going into it blind given that there appears to be a theme of avoiding a sophomore slump for this second album, but the band feels genuine in their insecurities, making the irony of a track like "More Songs About Chocolate and Girls" come off less smug than it may be coming from another group. Cutting a track or two would probably make for a more enjoyable complete listen, but if I was thumbing through the soundtrack menu of a late-era Tony Hawk game, where this music sounds like it belongs, I wouldn't toggle any of them off. Key Tracks: Here Comes Norman, Under the Boardwalk, Hard Luck

And this is exactly why I wanted to join this group. Why have I never heard of these guys? And I'm from Canada where we love everything from the UK (apparently). UK music gets plenty of airtime. I've been going through 90's rock recently discovering some of the pioneering UK bands from that era (that are excellent) and I'd put these guys in that mix for 70's-80's punk. Just as good as any Ramones album. Loved it all - and now I've got a band to go listen to more of.

I was underwhelmed by the undertones.

Genre: Pop Punk 2/5 Man, this thing turned into absolute mush towards the end for me. The whiny vocals want to sound like Jello Biafra so bad, the playing is fast but totally boring and uninspired, and this is another example of an album that just shouldn't be in this book. It was 15 songs, and nearly 40 mins worth, of the exact same material over and over again. A few songs slowed it down, and there were a few covers that kept it interesting, but this album faded into the background like a ghost. Really boring, really stale, and really annoying. Will not listen to this one again.

This one didn’t do much for me. That little vibrating thing he was trying to do with his voice was dumb and stupid. Undertones? More like Underwhelming.

The vocal tone is killer. I'm digging the bass work. There Goes Norman is a bop! Man, I am having a lot of fun listening to this album.

Love it! Even moreso than their last album we received. Simple pop punk with dumb (but aware) lyrics. Great fun! Top Tracks : “Hypnotised” “Whats With Terry?” “There Goes Norman”

“Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention …, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.“ -Wikipedia In response to this sophomore album from The Undertones, I had focused attention on the album and reduced peripheral awareness. I’m not sure I had enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion, unless that suggestion was that Hypnotised is a kick ass album. A great find. Thank you 1001!

Just a solid punk album. I really enjoyed it. There wasn't much that stood out but it was fun. The lyrics didn't take themselves seriously, the tracks were full of energy, and the production was solid but not polished (which is proper for punk). I liked it.

Maybe it’s the crappy music I’ve gotten all week making me biased, but this album IS GREAT. Just some northern Irish blokes having a laugh

Fun; sounds just like the album cover

I like even the weird cover

I wish I had known about this kind of music when I was in high school and it was brand new. Who knows, maybe I would have rejected it because it wasn't the classic rock that I was passionate about, but man I really like it now. I guess I was vaguely aware of bands like the Clash and the Sex Pistols, but punk and post-punk largely escaped my attention. It would have been great to see some of these bands live. In any case, I liked this a lot. I've heard a couple songs by the Undertones, but most of this was new to me. 4 stars.

decent punk sound - okay to me, didn't blow me away.

One-hit wonders and their one hit isn't even on this album. Seriously why are there 2 Undertone albums on this list? You don't even need 2 songs. A few good songs but in general mediocre, uninspired indie punk.

Ah, more UK punk/new wave crap, this time with a Jello Biafra impression as well. Whatever. Boring amateur shit. 2/5.

Somewhat dull album. Felt like the songs were very beach boys Esque but without a lot of the pop flair. Felt that they were more of an 80s rebrand of the 60s pop that wasn’t as good. Did not find that interesting. 4.9/10

Oh piss off and grow up

Die 2. Platte der Undertones in dieser Liste. Leute: die Undertones sind gar nicht mal so gut! 0 Platten der Undertones wäre angebrachter. Kann ich nicht durchhören.

Love this one.

Banger

Big DEVO energy. Good album.

Absolute classic

I love punk, by which I mean the 70s' variant, not Green Day and their ilk. In fact, the music I was weaned on was punk; my brother is 15 years older than me, so I got all his old punk LPs in the 90s. Anyway, depite that, I have never liked the song Teenage Kicks; I found it mawkish and overplayed. It still never really appealed even after I realised it was about wanking. Nevertheless, I lsitened to listen without prejudice and I loved it! The Undertones were really a great adolescent band, and this album showed a slight addition of postpunk jerkiness. Above all, this album is fun, unalloyed joy. What else do you want?

Excellent punk album.

Really liked this. Funny songs with good instrumentals.

A great album that reminds me of a better time in music when things were not afraid to be original

The first four Undertones albums are all great (same goes for Skids - not sure if their albums are also on the list but they should). I probably have listened to Hypnotized the most, nonstop catchy pop punk songs.

I love The Undertones' self titled, but I don't return to this one as much. Still, it's a great album. Maybe closer to 4.5, but I always round up and I've had so many bad albums recently.

I did not expect to like this album as much as I did. I'm surprised I haven't heard of them before. I'm a sucker for happy punk.

Sweet and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Really good. Unmistakably The Undertones. Not as snarky as Sharkey often is. Wednesday Week is the clear stand out track from this album.

Loved this

How have I've only just discovered the Undertones' Hypnotised album? I can't remember having this much fun listening to an album in a long time. And only 40 years too late! Is this the best album ever made? Absolutely not. But this proto poppunk makes me want to move and makes an bop my head. 4,5*

So happy to get this. Absolutely love it. Played it a million times at the time. It really reminds me of being a geeky teen (still am geeky!) Listening back it has an authenticity that can't be bought. This is New Wave at it's best. Guitars, drums, bass and Feargal Sharkey. And I did have that Perfect Cousin that is now a millionaire.....it's enough to make you cry.

I’ve enjoyed poppy-punk since the 90’s… so it is pretty fun to go back to the late 70’s and early 80’s to hear some older takes on that genre. I loved The Undertones’ debut album and I love this album. Fun!

9/10 lots of fun, and certainly holds up from their previous album

Classic punk, without the legacy of the two biggest bands perhaps. A few all time tracks, but even the surprising covers and less famous songs are great.

Sure why not, 5stars

chuli, chulito

Another banger today. I loved this! It's been fun rediscovering my taste for punk thanks to this list. New wave punk? Hell yeah.

Really ended up liking this one and then YouTube took me to more bands of the genre and I really enjoy it :)

Fantastic stuff, jaunty, fun and very easy to listen to

This is what punk should be. Fun, breezy, and DGAF.

Loved it

😁cool

Excellent record! Great songs, flows nicely.

SECOND NORTHERN IRISH ALBUM As a Northern Irish person, I was going to give this 5 anyway (😳) because I want to increase my country’s ratings on this site. However, the melodies are interesting, the songs are catchy and the lyricism is great! I recommend this for anyone of any nationality 😉 I need to listen to lots more punk and post-punk. 10/10.

"Hypnotised" is the second album by Northern Irish punk rock band the Undertones. Lyrically, the songs focus on teenage angst, boisterousness and heartbreak. Critics found this album more sophisticated than their debut. I'd agree with that. Commercially, the album hit #6 in the UK. The album starts with "More Songs About Chocolate and Girls," an obvious poke at the Talking Heads' album with a similar name. A guitar start which carries the melody. There's layered guitars and a poppy beat. The lyrics are funny and meaningless from what I can make out. "Hypnotised" has a more driving guitar sound. It actually sounded very similar to the guitar sound in today's emo and pop alternative songs. He's in a trance when she dances. They do a decent cover of "Under the Boardwalk." I think this might been some sort of tribute to the 50's/60's pop songs which you can hear in their music. The albums' second side has their two singles. "My Perfect Cousin" has slashing guitar notes, a poppy, bouncey beat and is very, very catchy. People are comparing him to his perfect cousin Kevin and he's not too pleased about it. "Wednesday Week" is lighter with a Spanish sounding acoustic guitar and melodic electric guitar. Lead singer Feargal Sharkey is singing in a higher tone. This is a pleasant song. This album has music that is catchy, melodic, poppy, punk, garage and drving. At times, I really got a 60's pop vibe, particularly the Kinks and Zombies. Sharkey really stretches and strains his vocals. I actually went back and listen to their debut album again. This second album is similar but is more complex with better musicianship, layered guitars and better hooks. Both albums are worth a listen and are highly recommended.

Didn’t know this band outside of Teenage Kicks, this album was glorious. How to do churn out this many catchy songs?

Super fun! Would listen to again. Great beats.

5/5

This was great! There wasn't any track on her that I didn't enjoy. I would definitely listen to more by the Undertones. This is a 4.5 star album, but I'm in a good mood, so I'm rounding up.

Album itself was probably four stars, but the corner of Spotify that I got into after the album was over, was absolutely amazing!

It's funny that thing people do where they believe that the order they have discovered music is the order that it was released and that because they've heard two thing with some similarities they believe one is automatically ripping off the other. Look at a couple of the other reviews. The idea that Feargal Sharkey was in any way influenced by Jello Biafra. Hahaha. Listen to the lyrics, read some Wikipedia, ask yourself if Dead Kennedy's records were available in Derry a year earlier than anywhere else in the world, if at all.

Really had a fun time listening, but need to revisit to distinguish more songs since the sound was so cohesive it all blended together.

nice upbeat punk album that has lyrically a lot of content to add that might be lacking in other albums in the genre

Had not heard all of these songs. Awesome and fun

Early punk is good punk

good post punk. nothing as catchy as “teenage kicks” tho

fucked rad

false

Pretty good! Kind of weird

nice surprise, many cool and familiar tracks

Fun album. The music was good but the songs all sounded the same. I liked it overall.

Really fun album. Enjoyed the energy and that is was punk that’s only significant quality musically was being loud. Favorite Tracks: “More Songs About Chocolate and Girls” and “See That Girl”

Este género rockero sí me gusta, jaja. Ya es como rock con algo de punk y pues el sonido del rock pop. El disco: ligero, fluye, rápido, ritmos ágiles, definitivamente su teenage angst me da para creer que ojalá lo hubiera escuchado justo en la etapa adolescente. No conocía ni sabía de The Undertones. Mis pistas favoritas: "Hypnotised", "Hard Luck", "My Perfect Cousin", "Tearproof" y, en primer lugar, "Wednesday Week", con una forma de arrastrar (?) las vocales que siempre me gusta. 9/10

8/10 Coqueto, audaz y fresco

Divertido, energético, vibras veraniegas, pero no sé si me atrapa lo suficiente para volver a escucharlo. Lo que sí puedo apreciar y agradecer del disco es que la corta duración de sus canciones hacen del disco más llevadero a pesar de que son 18 pistas. Ancestro de Vampire Weekend y ese tipo de banditas? Track favorito: Hard luck (again) B side porque es como un buen logro del copy paste dejando solo lo chido de la canción original Mood: chillin' an' killin'

Enjoyed this v much

Heerlijk klassieke punk. Hier word ik wel blij van.

Have never heard anything from them before but loved it! A fun easy listen in the early days of the Pop Punk sound. 1) More Songs About Chocolate And Girls 4* 2) Thee Goes Norman 4* 3) Hypnotised 4* 4) See That Girl 3* 5) Whizz Kids 3* 6) Under The Boardwalk 4* 7) The Way Girls Talk 3* 8) Hard Luck 3* 9) My Perfect Cousin 4* 10) Boys Will Be Boys 4* 11) Tearproof 3* 12) Wednesday Week 4* 13) Nine Times Out Of Ten 4* 14) Girls That Don't Talk 4* 15) What's With Terry 4*

Most enjoyable!

Pretty stinkin' great.

Enjoyed this way more than expected. Fergal Sharkey's voice is a bit marmite and I'm on the wrong side of that divide, but there's no denying the infectious energy. Interestingly and unusually for rock music, I think almost every song is in 2/4 time. In any event, all the same beat, and all the song lyrics are variations on either "it's not fair, he's got more than me" or "it's not fair, she doesn't love me" but nevertheless I still loved it. Avoided this sort of stuff like the plague in the 70s (along with all punk/new wave) but happy to discover I was wrong.

Fun and spunky album

proto pop punk

Album kind slaps I'll be honest. It gives me hard anemoia vibes. Like I feel really heavy nostalgia for the time period this album evokes. These like 1980's finding love for the first time next to a beach in the sun. It's pretty cool. It doesn't feel dated like most of the other albums I've listened to. At least not in bad cheesy way. But there is definitely some cheese in there.

Good solid punk album. The vocals started to grate on me after a while, though. Standout tracks for me: “There Goes Norman” and “Under The Boardwalk.”

Better light punk than expected - fun album

Yet again, I am my parents child. I really enjoyed this album and have been singing My Perfect Cousin ever since. Very much seems like an influence of T-Rextasy who I would kill to watch at the Empty Bottle again.

Auper

punk rock - quite enjoyable

This was a nice surprise and quite suitable for me as it was not too raw Post-Punk. Still melodic music, singing was also actual singing so this deserves a 4

Great album! Everything I love: punk guitar riffs, simple song structures, catchy choruses, and an overall fun experience.

Fun

This is kind of a weird album. The music is great and well-produced. Their voices are a bit grating, and their lyrics leave a lot to be desired. Overall it's a pretty interesting listen, but it kind of feels like the music is being wasted a bit by not having better vocal accompaniment 4/5, though very far on the low end of 4

This album is 100% fun to borrow from Matthew Sweet. This is pop punk at its best. Fearful Sharkeys voice gives the album a note of whimsy, but the chorus are as tough and ucompriing, 3 75 stars

teenage rock mmmmm very healthy. mmmmmmm youth

Some good tracks

7/19

A bit on the bizarre sounding side, but it's upbeat and fun. Solidly 3.5+, so we'll call it a 4.

Amazing early punk album

Mint!

Tolles Album. Hat mich an die Replacements erinnert. Der Sänger trällert manchmal wie Jello Biafra. Schön!

Snuck in as a four.

This was really fun and a good indicator of what PopPunk should be. A fun little tidbit about this band, they're from Derry, Northern Ireland and were popular during 'The Troubles'. I highly recommend the Netflix series 'Derry Girls' which takes place at the same time and gives a visual to what it was like being young during this period.

Great fun, fast paced, cracking tunes.

Very last century

This was a straightforward but fun punk rock album that could grow on me even more with repeated listens.