I was going to say that I could talk about the Undertones for days but MRML readers already know my weakness for obsessing over shoulda-beens and kinda-weres ad nauseum. So before I return to discussing Grant Hart marginalia, I need to remind you of what likely is the last great Undertones single, "It's Going to Happen". The song is from the 1981 album Positive Touch and it's a heart-breaking indication that a great band could have been borne of Feargal's ambitions and the band's growing prowess, a band that could groove like ska and rock like power-pop. But the band instead elected to play an eighties brand of soul; it's a deep loss, one that may bear some obsessing.
Finding this high concept, Buster-Keaton-meets-Ed-Wood video, full of Feargal's high-camp made posting this song a necessity.
The Undertones never sucked. However, while their last two album contain some fine moments like, "It's Going to Happen" and"The Love Parade" you can forgive fans of those first two buzzsaw pop releases for saying their sudden embrace of a pop-rock-soul, " sucks".
This 1981 concert (sound quality is near-perfect) is a fascinating bridge between Hypnotized and Positive Touch. The early material is slower, and tricked out with touches of both sixties pop and R & B while some, if not all, the newer material is faster and more rocked out. True Undertones fans will find it fascinating.
Is "Teenage Kicks" really the Undertones' pinnacle? It is an incredible distillation of adolescent longing and lust, I mean listen to Feargal croon as if his heart's being ripped from his chest and shown to him before he dies, while the band kicks up a divine racket. The one knock against that song is how it unfairly overshadows the Undertones greatest unhits; "Get Over You", "Here Comes the Summer" "Hypnotized" and "My Perfect Cousin".
What if the Undertones only recorded one song before being blasted to blood and guts by an I.R.A. pipe bomb? Thank God it didn't happen, but if it had then maybe that one song should have been "My Perfect Cousin". Having explored Lust in "Teenage Kicks" the band continued to cover the Seven Deadly Sins (not a band really), with Envy being the focus here. The lyrics lay out the family rivalry in such exquisite detail that it's like an outline of a film; listen and you can see these perfect set pieces being run in the theater of your skull. Hell, the narrative arc here is more fully realized than the last ten Will Ferrell movies.
MY PERFECT COUSIN
I've got a cousin called Kevin He's sure to go to heaven Always spotless, clean and neat As smooth as you’ll get ‘em
He's got a fur lined sheepskin jacket My ma said they cost a packet But she won't even let me explain That me and Kevin we’re just not the same
Chorus Oh, my perfect cousin What I like to do he doesn't He's his family's pride and joy
His mother’s little golden boy
He's got a degree in economics Maths, physics and bionics He thinks that I'm a cabbage ‘Cause I hate University Challenge Even at the age of ten Smart boy Kevin was a smart boy then He always beat me at Subbuteo ‘Cause he ‘flicked to kick’ And I didn't know
Repeat chorus
His mother bought him a synthesiser Got the Human League into advise her Now he's making lots of noise Playing along with the art school boys Girls try to attract his attention But what a shame, it's in vain, total rejection He will never be left on the shelf ‘Cause Kevin, he's in love with himself
Repeat chorus
Written By: Michael Bradley / Damian O’Neill
While the Undertones obvious strength may be the quavery but powerful vocal stylings of choirboy Feargal Sharkey, it's the song-writing skills of the O'Neil brothers, John and Damien (both later of That Petrol Emotion) that underpins their greatness. Despite having written just one song on their 1979 debut, it's John who wrote or co-wrote half of 1980's Hypnotized, including their possible pinnacle, "My Perfect Cousin".
Geza X, a key producer, solo artist, inventor and musical theoretician of the early California punk scene, is one odd duck. His notoriety began with his production work for the Dead Kennedys, the Germs, Black Flag, the Avengers and the Weirdos. The of course he pioneered the use of the now-ubiquitous face mikes (a.k.a. head-mounted mikes) and the less-popular Gezatone guitar. Using said guitar he led a band called the Mommymen through a series of singles, e.p.'s. He and the band also appeared on compilations such as Jello Biafra's Let Them Eat Jellybeans where they add the weirdly wonderful, "Isotope Soap" and Rodney Bingenheimer's Rodney on the Roq where they contributed the thundering "We Need More Power."
"We Need More Power", with it's shredded-speaker guitar sound has held me in thrall since I first heard it as a teenager. Geza called their sound, "x-music", a sort of art-school punk but filled with saxes and marimbas as well as slashing power-chords and squiggly leads. It's like an experiment to cross-breed Devo with AC/DC performed in Captain Beefheart's laboratory. If that doesn't sound promising, Geza always does.
How uncool are Bowling For Soup? Well, if it's any indication, I first heard one of their songs (one that I can actually remember) while grabbing some lemon hummus from Safeway. That's not even mall-punk - that's deli-section punk. So go ahead and scorn these Texans for their Grammy nomination, their Jive Records contract or their obvious debt to Blink 182 and the Offspring (who both ripped SoCal pop-punk in the first place) if you must but in their chart-aiming, kiddie-punk goofiness they do hearken back to the Dickies.
This song, "I'm Gay" gets points for a killer chorus, a reasonably witty take on the use of the word gay, some post-modern la-la's in the bridge and of course a few dead-clever lines like, "I think rock n' roll is really funny when its serious". Call me indiscriminate but a well-written song is is a well-written song; it doesn't matter about the band's overly wacky image, their less-funny-every-time-you-hear-it name, their token overwrought ballad or even their musical kleptomania. Just enjoy the uncoolness.
To hear the UK single (with extra tracks, including another of one of those dreaded" funky B-sides" - sorry 'bout that) or anything more, please see the links below:
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Re: Re-Ups
MRML does not plan to restore all of the content lost in The Great Mediafire Gutting of 2012. Polite requests may be made in the appropriate section, regular commenters will get priority.
