Red Fish

I once saw these guys play a storming gig at the Sense Of Ireland festival in London at the turn of the ’80s and now, more than 20 years on, comes fresh evidence of how good they could be.

Red Fish features twelve songs, all but one around the three-minute mark, all evoking memories of summer days and unattainable girls in a way that’s rarely achieved. And yet time has not stood still. The opening track, ‘Getting Off In Amsterdam’, puts the whole exercise into context. ”See that girl with the stud in her tongue/She’s in her 30s but she still looks young”.

Timelines are thus established, but to be truthful, these pieces (and the re-released material on the accompanying Johh Peel Sessions disc) have about them a quality which transcends chronology. Ask me to name a standout piece and I couldn’t at this time (8.20am) but on my drive north later this morning, I’ll keep skipping back to ‘The Boy Who Used To Sing’, a bittersweet song about a marriage which has descended into spousal abuse. If released as a single, I am convinced this track could be a hit.

Red Fish is a truly lovely album, finely crafted by people who care about the music they make, and with The Undertones having rediscovered their form in such a spectacular fashion, I wouldn’t take bets against The Moondogs finding a whole new world out there either. At this point, Red Fish is my album of the year, and anything that betters it will have to be very good indeed.