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t the rate things are going it’ll soon be easier to make a list of 80s bands that aren’t re-forming, as opposed to those who are. And who can blame them really; being in a band that people want to see is probably a hell of a lot more attractive than the daily grind of paying a mortgage and being stuck in traffic. And by re-forming, they can help their fans forget about the daily grind of paying a mortgage and being stuck in traffic, albeit for one night. Or, they could suck, and send everyone home wondering how they had ever liked them in the first place. The Undertones are not the most recent (this week that distinction still probably belongs to the Pixies) but after charming thousands with their buzz-saw, garage guitar pop for about 5 years in the late 70s and early 80s, they decided to give things another go. They started by playing gigs together in 1999 with a new singer, Paul McLoone, taking the place of Fergal Sharkey, and graduating to an album of new material in late 2003.
So, enough with the amateur psychobabble, how does the music on Get What You Need measure up? As the first chords to the first song “Thrill Me” kick in, the years literally melt away as you bop around the room to this piece of guitar pop perfection. Heck, the new singer is even doing a passable Fergal imitation. And with a chorus like “I never thought you loved me / I had to leave the world behind / Like the open sky above me / You thrill me all the time”, it’s a matter of when, not if, this song will be used to sell sports cars.
Two more standouts quickly follow, “I Need Your Love theWay It Used to Be”, with its needling, insistent guitar, and “Everything But You”.
Even before playing the album, a glance at the track listing revealed one with the rather dubious title “Ride the Rough Escalator”. Was this some kind of suggestive Northern Irish come on? Regardless, it’s a low point on the album, more Status Quo than The Undertones, “Run, run, you gotta hide the fever, run.”
In general the middle of the album is where the band tend to lose their way a little, with a series of songs that just seem uninspired, although “Touch” does entertain in a cheesy, ‘Undertones play rockabilly’ kind of way.
Normal service is restored towards the end however, with a series of cracking tunes. And things end on a high note with “Shut Down”, containing a heavily distorted guitar that almost sounds like Soundgarden. In the end, you have to give the band credit for sticking their neck out and trying to make new music instead of just relying on what is an excellent back catalogue. DC music fans would be well advised to traipse along to The Black Cat on March 6 to see The Undertones, both past and present.
