Paul McLoone is the man with the least enviable job in power punk history. For many, the idea of The Undertones without Feargal Sharkey’s chiselled features and inimitable larynx is simply untenable. But the fact is, with his Sharkey-like vibrato, McLoone has re-energised the band, giving them urgency and hunger. Droll new classic “Everything But You”, the blackly humorous “The Cruellest Thing” and the mesmerising “Winter Sun” (as weirdly off-kilter as anything they’ve ever recorded) inhabit the same ageless corner of garage band heaven as earlier classics. Peerless riffs, brilliantly skewed harmonies and dynamic splendour?a group this good doesn’t deserve to be left on the shelf. Rest assured, McLoone has done their legacy proud.
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