"The Undertones", The Undertones, 1979
Dia: 29
Mês: Abril
Ano: 2013
Ano: 2013
The Trouser Press Record Guide – Fourth Edition (Collier Books, 1991): The Undertones started out writing simple, fetching melodies with lyrics about teenagehood and playing them fast and raw on basic guitars, bass and drums. With Feargal Sharkey's unique, piercing tenor out front, songs on the first album ("Jimmy Jimmy", "Here Comes the Summer", "Girls Don't Like It") are spare and efficient pop gems that are as infectious as measles, suggesting a bridge between teenybop and punk. (The US edition – wrapped in completely different color Xerox artwork – adds the crucial "Teenage Kicks" and "Get Over You" from the band's two 7-inches.)
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave (Virgin Books and Muze, 1998): By the spring of 1979, the group had entered the Top 20 with the infectious "Jimmy Jimmy" and gained considerable acclaim for their debut album, which was one of the most refreshing pop records of its time. The group's genuinely felt songs of teenage angst and romance struck a chord with young listeners and ingratiated them to an older public weaned on the great tradition of early/mid-60s pop. ★★★★
AllMusic: What is a perfect album? One could make an argument that a perfect album is one that sets out a specific set of artistic criteria and then fulfills them flawlessly. In that respect, and many others, the Undertones' 1979 debut is a perfect album. ★★★★1/2
BBC: In the summer of 1979 five lads from Derry were the best geeks on the block.
The Quietus: The band's most famous song – the eternally youthful "Teenage Kicks" – seems to have taken on a life of its own. Not even that big a hit when it was first released in the middle of the 70s, the song is now a student disco staple. It's practically impossible not to go through the weekend without hearing it blasting out over a dancefloor with snogging couples in drunken loon dance abandon. Can there be a greater compliment for song than that reaction? You can theorise about music forever, but if you’ve written the song that guarantees one dirty kiss, you’ve achieved the ultimate critical reaction.
Rolling Stone – 50 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums [N.37: 'The Undertones']: "It was a positive way to fill our time rather than join in with the rioting," guitarist John O'Neill told Noisey. "I was also a very naïve, diffident teenager. I didn't have the confidence to write about the political situation and do it justice." Instead they absorbed the lessons of Phil Spector, the Brill Building, the Nuggets comps and the Ramones, singing about heartbreak ("Get Over You") and sexual frustration ("Girls Don't Like It") with the taut New Wave hooks that made their friendzone anthems both melancholy and fun, connecting the dots between Jonathan Richman and the Descendents.
NME – The Undertones almost never recorded "Teenage Kicks": The Undertones sent the finished version of the song to John Peel, who played it on his BBC Radio 1 show twice in a row because he liked it so much. The late DJ has the opening line of the song – "Teenage dreams, so hard to beat" – written on his gravestone.
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