The Undertones

★★★★ Dig What You Need DIMPLE DISCS. CD/DL/LP

Pick of the post-Feargal Sharkey re-formation years, remixed by Paul Tipler.

The Derry boys without Feargal Sharkey? Inconceivable! And yet in 1999 the O’Neill brothers with Mickey Bradley and Billy Doherty re-formed the group, replacing the original singer with their friend Paul McLoone. The ensuing live shows were thrilling (and still are), McLoone a rejuvenating force on-stage. Two subsequent LPs – 2003’s

Get What You Need and 2007’s Dig Yourself Deep –meanwhile contain moments of sheer wonderment. Listen to the exuberant Thrill Me and Enough included on this wellchosen best-of the comeback era: both are classic pop-punk nuggets, all vocal vibrato gush, infectious melodies and joyous escape. Then try the sumptuous Winter Sun, a more mature-sounding outing à la Positive Touch, with its tender vocal and lavish harmonies. Lois Wilson