As reformations go, THE UNDERTONES were never going to have it easy once the wider public discovered Feargal Sharkey wouldn't be back on board. Many wrote them off without even giving new vocalist Paul McLoone a chance, so the fact they returned with a credible new album in 2003 ('Get What You Need') did their once-flawless reputation no harm whatsoever and also stopped many of the naysayers in their tracks.
Although initially a little sceptical himself, 'Get What You Need' got this reviewer back on track where The Undertones were concerned and an amazing open air performance at the Bandon Music Festival in the summer of 2005 - where McLoone more than held his own - made it blindingly clear that they had plenty to offer in the precarious, 21st Century scheme of things.
Having been held up due to bassist Mickey Bradley's cancer scare, 'Dig Yourself Deep' finally emerges after a four-year hiatus, but the good news is that the wait's been more than worth it, because it's an energised, confident and tune-heavy record which simply concentrates on knocking out glorious punk-pop tunes from the word go.
Actually, on the first couple of listens, the sheer brevity of the opening slew of songs is almost TOO much. Although the title track barrels out of the traps like a glorious amalgam of the 'Tones immortal debut and the best of The Ramones' 'Road To Ruin', it's gone in barely 1 minute 45 and the frantic 'So Close' screes to an abrupt halt at barely a minute and a half. We're at the end of third tune 'Here Comes The Rain' before a song even (just about) hits the two-minute mark and indeed the whole LP itself clocks in at an economy-friendly 30 minutes and 40 seconds or so.
But then, when we're discussing songs written (primarily) by that nonchalent genius John O'Neill and delivered with the energy of a band playing like they're chasing their 18th rather than 48th birthdays, that's absolutely spot-on and once you've played these songs a few times and each one's canny melodic quality begins to assert itself individually then you realise you're (again) on to something very good indeed.
The brace of reviews this writer's previously read make reference to The Undertones' classic debut album, but while that's possibly true enough of a few numbers - 'Easy Way Out' and the Bradley-penned 'She's So Sweet' spring to mind - for this reviewer, 'Dig Yourself Deep' sometimes recalls another O'Neill brothers opus: That Petrol Emotion's debut album 'Manic Pop Thrill' - a title which could itself be used as a soundbite to describe the contents of 'Dig Yourself Deep'. Musically, too, the likes of 'So Close' and nicely bitchy 'We All Talked About You' recall the guitar-flaying excitement of songs like 'Fleshprint' or 'Tightlipped', while on 'Precious Little Wonder', McLoone's voice is even a little reminiscent of Steve Mack's groovy drawl.
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None of which makes anything here any less attractive and, indeed, the more I hear Paul McLoone, the more natural he sounds. Yes, once again it needs repeating that if you're expecting a Sharkey carbon copy then you simply get off the bus and shut up, but McLoone's gutsy delivery is fast becoming a respected trademark in itself and lends itself very well indeed to self-deprecatory tunes like 'Everything You Say Is Right' and the pummelling, punky roustabout of 'Him Not Me'. This latter has a wry Bradley lyric ("Sunday morning, B&Q/ I'm checking out the power tools/ this is what it's coming to") about struggling to accept the concept of oncoming middle age which might raise an eyebrow or two.
The band allow themselves three opportunities to rein in the rollicking ramalama, but in all cases they're opportunities grasped rather than squandered. 'Fight My Corner' is in the one obvious concession to loops, samples and modernity in general, but it works a treat (lest we forget John O'Neill made an under-rated dance-pop album with Rare), as does 'Tomorrow's Tears', the album's best stab at a 'Wednesday Week'-style swoon, where the acoustics are broken out and that sad-and-blue chorus ("shine, shine it on!") soon sears itself on to your brain. Best of all, though, is the one tender ballad, 'Move Right In', which is kissed by Damien O'Neill's beautiful vibrato guitar, a suitably sympathetic McLoone vocal and tiny glockenspiel and is simply a thing of wonder.
All of which adds up to a very satisfying and breezy addition to The Undertones impressive canon. For all the exuberance and energy expended, it's not really like it used to be, but surely that's the point, because thirty years after the fact you'd hope The Undertones aren't simply here to continue replicating their debut when it comes to new songs. What they have done is play to their melodic stengths, while ensuring the occasional experiment is followed through to its' fruition and emerged with a record that's still recognisably enough The Undertones to appeal to both old trenchers and a potential new coterie of fans alike. Wonderful stuff.
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