The Undertones - Dig Yourself Deep

are part of the musical furniture, like Christmas, school holidays and brushing your teeth – you just can’t imagine them not being there cos they’ve been around so long - and for most of us, that means since before we were even born. The Northern Irish band first came to prominence in the punk explosion of the late 70s and their anthem ‘Teenage Kicks’ became musical guru John Peel’s favourite record of all time. So thirty years on, what shape are the punk godfathers from Derry in?

‘Dig Yourself Deep’, the opening track from the album of the same name, sets the tone with as chirpy and breezy a blast of old skool punk as you could wish for. But then things turn a bit nastier and meaner on ‘So Close’, The Undertones proving they produce a snarling and prickly side as well as a more cuddly. ‘Fight My Corner’ is more reflective, with a shuffling beat replacing the usual frantic paced drums and vicious guitar jabs to great effect. Then you’re whirled up again into the massive thunderous sing-a-long joy of ‘Precious Little Wonder’ and ‘She’s So Sweet’ both guaranteed to get you pogo-ing harder than Sid Vicious at the 100 Club. Only ‘Happy Valley’ is a bit of a damp squib, with its monotone chorus and dirgy guitars jarring with the shiny neon glow of the rest of the album.

On the whole, however, ‘Dig Yourself Deep’ has plenty of tracks to delight the old skool punks who remember the band from the dark ages as well as being fresh enough catch the attention of new kids too. The longest track clocks in just shy of three minutes – it’s clear these boys still live by the glorious ‘go in blazing, knock ‘em dead quickly’ ethics of punk. In spite of so much water under the bridge, it’s extremely gratifying to know that some things never change. Of course The Undertones aren’t reinventing the wheel anywhere on ‘Dig Yourself Deep’ – and who can blame them? If you’ve got such a fantastic winning formula, why on earth would you tinker with it?

Physically, the teenage kicks might have given way to middle aged creaks but as far as the music goes, this sparky, rough and ready little album is as good a record as you’ll hear this year - or in 1977, for that matter.