b*e
1 楼
teenage kicks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAtUw6lxcis
Review by Stewart Mason [-]
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. The Northern Ireland quintet's brief story is no different
than that of literally dozens of other bands to form in the wake of the
Clash and, more importantly, the Buzzcocks, but the group infuses so much
unabashed joy in their two-minute three-chord pop songs, and there's so
little pretension in their unapologetically teenage worldview, that even the
darker hints of life in songs like the suicide-themed "Jimmy Jimmy" are
delivered with a sense of optimism at odds with so many of their
contemporaries. There's no fewer than three all-time punk-pop classics here;
besides that song, the singles "Teenage Kicks" and "Get Over You" are
simple declarations of teenage hormonal lust that somehow manage to be cute
instead of Neanderthal; perhaps it's Feargal Sharkey's endearingly adenoidal
whine, or the chipper way the O'Neill brothers pitch in on schoolboy
harmonies, like a teenage Irish Kinks. All of the other 13 songs, even the
47-second blip "Casbah Rock," are nearly to that level of brilliance, with
the frenetic "Girls Don't Like It" a particular standout. The Rykodisc CD
adds seven demos and single sides, and also includes an entirely different,
punkier version of "True Confessions" than the nervous, new wave-influenced
throb of the version on the original U.K. vinyl.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAtUw6lxcis
Review by Stewart Mason [-]
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. The Northern Ireland quintet's brief story is no different
than that of literally dozens of other bands to form in the wake of the
Clash and, more importantly, the Buzzcocks, but the group infuses so much
unabashed joy in their two-minute three-chord pop songs, and there's so
little pretension in their unapologetically teenage worldview, that even the
darker hints of life in songs like the suicide-themed "Jimmy Jimmy" are
delivered with a sense of optimism at odds with so many of their
contemporaries. There's no fewer than three all-time punk-pop classics here;
besides that song, the singles "Teenage Kicks" and "Get Over You" are
simple declarations of teenage hormonal lust that somehow manage to be cute
instead of Neanderthal; perhaps it's Feargal Sharkey's endearingly adenoidal
whine, or the chipper way the O'Neill brothers pitch in on schoolboy
harmonies, like a teenage Irish Kinks. All of the other 13 songs, even the
47-second blip "Casbah Rock," are nearly to that level of brilliance, with
the frenetic "Girls Don't Like It" a particular standout. The Rykodisc CD
adds seven demos and single sides, and also includes an entirely different,
punkier version of "True Confessions" than the nervous, new wave-influenced
throb of the version on the original U.K. vinyl.
