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Positive Touch

The Undertones - Positive Touch Audio CD

A fair review of the The Undertones "Positive Touch" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Undertones reviews here, or go back to the The Undertones tabs.

Band: The Undertones
Title: Positive Touch
Rating:

Release Date: 1994-06-14
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Fascination 2: Julie Ocean 3: Life's Too Easy 4: Crisis of Mine 5: You're Welcome 6: His Good Looking Girlfriend 7: Positive Touch 8: When Saturday Comes 9: It's Going to Happen 10: Sigh & Explode 11: I Don't Know 12: Hannah Doot 13: Boy Wonder 14: Forever Paradise 15: Kiss in the Dark [*] 16: Beautiful Friend [*] 17: Life's Too Easy [Alternate Version][*] 18: Fairly in the Money Now [*]

A Touch too Much
No longer a gang of teenaged scruffs, they'd moved into their twenties and were somewhat affluent pop stars. By the time The Undertones got around to their third album, "Positive Touch," their world had completely changed. The drive and desires that would have them forever have singing about cars and girls were supplanted by the fact that they all had cars, girls and even were property owners. Out was the hunger to impress the babes, in was the desire to express the artist within.

"Positive Touch" is the result of that desire given run of the studio. While it certainly doesn't lack for great catchy songs, the band couldn't keep their impulses in check. As a result, "Life's Too Easy," a song that would have sounded great stripped to its basics is buried in a mish-mosh of bad piano and overwrought production. (Even the band must have figured that out, the single remix/bonus track sounds infinitely better. )

There are also the O'Neill brothers' forays into psychedelia, as witnessed by "Julie Ocean" and "Sigh and Explode. " While interesting, it also began to show Feargel Sharkey's limitations as a vocalist even as his ambitions were starting to exceed his grasp. Sharkey really didn't have the chops to sing soulfully, although "You're Welcome" reaches pretty hard and almost succeeds. (As would his eventual unlistenable solo albums. )

If you want the kind of brilliant fast pop tunes that The Undertones provided on their first two albums, they're still here. Songs like "His Good Looking Girlfriend," "Boy Wonder" and "It's Going to Happen" still show that the Tones' had a knack for an ace hook. "Positive Touch" still holds a spot in my library (the overly dense "Sin Of Pride" never stayed), but I really can't rate it any higher than average. In this case, getting older got the better of The Undertones.
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Sure, it ain't the first two classic albums. So what!
This is the third album. Many punx (and others?) who love the UNDERTONES dismiss the two albums after the first two perfect power punk pop albums they did (s/t and Hypnotised). It's softer than the first two but not as soft as the last one (Sin of Pride). I love this band so much that even these last two albums have, particularly this one, are a real pleasure. I suppose I couldn't give this one 5 stars only cuz I know how brilliant the first two are.

They have energy and strong guitar, one of the UNDERTONES' best traits and very strong song writing. The song writing did not decrease in quality for this album. It just, uh, I think they wanted to be more popular and, who but a person living there could possibly understand the whims and pressures of making it on the UK charts. Ever notice they'll have, literally, FRANK SINATRA and the SEX PISTOLS and BOB MARLEY all right on the same pop charts? It's just unnatural. It should be all rock, all metal, all rap, all sap, all punk, all kids, all big band or all classical (and have the country & western beat a fast retreat). Like it was intended, apparently. But, NOOO!, they have to like all kinds of music, all the time, just mixed up. And, they're apparently expert (they being UK pop fans, which, oddly, included fans of punk) at turning on a band as quick as they'll accept them. I blame the demise of the UNDERTONES on this state of affairs in the UK, though it's only a guess from across the globe. (I've read many Mojo magazines, doesn't that let me have a sneak peak into the over broad musical tastes of many UK music fans? Come on, SYD BARRETT, GRAM PARSONS, WHITE STRIPES, AL KOOPER, the CLASH, JOHN LYDON, JONI MITCHELL and MC5? Detroit and the UK, it's a conspiracy I tell you. Ok, so I'm joking, but Uncut film/music mag is even worse - better? no, worse, though I love Mojo. Uncut will have like a brilliant 9 page cover story of the CLASH and then be filled with stuff I have no interest in - John Hiatt, Greatful Dead, Chuck Berry etc. Oh, heck, it's only music, I'll let 'em have their fun). Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, the UNDERTONES rule, even when they got a bit softer, and, it's clear they did on this release. But the songs are beautiful and I still cherish the album. There's a CD version with like 8 extra trax. Can't beat that.

Course, you can always get the A and B sides Singles 2xCD collection and that'll be all you really need from them. Ireland's finest, if ya ask me. They've reformed with a new vocalist. God Bless 'em. I hope they tour the West Coast one day, not just the East Coast. And I'll see 'em and cheer songs from any album, even the new one which is pleasant. Listen to the samples on this website and let yer ears determine if you like this, a course. I always will. chrisbct@hotmail. com.

experimentation=free rein to bad ideas
Some are merely silly without spoiling whole songs, such as the dopey "AAAAH-AH" backing vocals that begin "Fascination. Positive Touch is as catchy as you would expect from The Undertones, based on their first two albums, but prepare to cringe at some of the gimmicks on this disc. " The same goes for the gratuitous reverb on "Julie Ocean," and all the horns. But others are just embarrasingly stupid--the pan-pipes on "Hannah Doot," the Spanish guitar on "I Don't Know," and pretty much all of the title track. Xylophone, slide guitar, latin beat, a title that sounds like the name of a straight-edge band. . . this song's a train-wreck.

That said, the album will grow on you. It is a tribute to the songwriting powers of the Undertones that I find myself singing along with every ridiculous song.

Their best album
The psychedelic swirl of "Julie Ocean," "Beautiful Friend," "It Happens All the Time" all gain clarity and punch on CD. Before the soul-heavy, dense "Sin of Pride," after the pop tunes of "Hypnotised" and the Ramones-like buzz of their debut album, this one fits perfectly as a pivot around which their other efforts align. The odd production only makes Fergal Sharkey's voice sound even more warbly, and the experimentation crammed into many of these three-minute gems makes this album stand the test of time, when much early-80s material from their contemporaries sounds very dated. This is the ideal album to start with.

their best album, a great one!
Lots of good pop songs and melodies, though the version of Julie Ocean is too short, as the Undertones themselves realized - they did it again (and better) for the single. Their earlier efforts, though more highly praised by critics, seem pretty juvenile nowadays, while this neglected album shines more brightly than ever.

You can see a complete list of all The Undertones discography, or go back to the The Undertones tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.