(* as part of That Petrol Emotion )
Chart entered : 27 April 1991
Chart peak : 55
Damian wasn't long in following his ex-bandmate Feargal Sharkey out of the charts.
After the Undertones split in 1983, Damian stayed in London without much money to support himself . He was briefly in a band with Undertones bassist Micky Bradley called Eleven who did a Peel session and a few gigs but not much else. He was rescued by brother John ( now Sean ), who had put together a new band with DJ friend Raymond Gorman and invited Damian to join on bass. That Petrol Emotion were a much darker, more overtly political band than The Undertones and quickly won the approval of Peelie and the NME. After a few independent singles, they were signed to Polydor in 1986. Their first Polydor single "Big Decision" looked set to chart but they shot themselves in the foot by putting a diatribe about plastic bullets on the sleeve which scared off the daytime DJ's and the single stalled at number 42. They would never get as close again; their singles tickled the lower end of the chart but they became perennial underachievers. They found a loophole to escape the Polydor contract and signed to Virgin in 1988 . That same year , Sean quit the band and their third, confused album, "End of the Millennium Psychosis Blues" failed to yield any hit at all. The band got a new bassist and Damian switched to guitar. They used REM producer Scott Litt for their fourth album "Chemicrazy" . Although it stalled at number 62 it yielded four minor hits, none getting higher than 49.
"Sensitize" was the last of those and it does sound a bit fourth choice. The lyrics about senses being overwhelmed might be referencing drugs and Damian's guitar sound has a touch of John Squire about it. I always suspected Steve Mack's vocals might have been one of the things holding them back. He himself said "I can't sing but I know how to fake it" and like Mick Jones of The Clash, his voice has a needling quality to it. On this one he sounds a bit like Neil Sedaka. It's a reasonable guitar rock track but somewhat lacking in punch.
It marked the end of their time with Virgin and they can have had few complaints about being dropped in the current climate. The band signed with the independent label Koogat for one last album "Fireproof" in 1993. It's much better than I was expecting, a strong alt-rock set with some fine guitar work and no obviously duff track Neither of the singles, " Detonate My Dreams" and "Catch A Fire", charted and the album received little attention. Their time had gone, they had the wrong sound for Britpop and their subsequent split was inevitable. They played a couple of farewell concerts in London which formed the basis of a documentary and live album released in 2000.
In 1998, Damian contributed an arty instrumental track "Moon Tide" to an EP on a French label which was later used in the 2000 film version of Hamlet.
The following year, the Undertones reunited almost casually. Drummer Billy Doherty had been playing "Teenage Kicks" on stage with The Saw Doctors and invited Bradley along. They then asked if the rest of the band would play the Galway Arts Festival with them. Doherty approached John O Neill who unexpectedly said yes and Damian said if John was in he'd do it. No one approached Sharkey and the Saw Doctors' singer provided the vocals. The band were pleased with the reaction and drafted in local DJ Paul McLoone as singer to play more gigs. They've remained together on a part-time basis ever since, both Bradley and Doherty having day jobs..
In 2001, Damian released a solo album under the name "A Quiet Revolution" on Alan McGee's new Poptones label. It's a far cry from either of his previous bands, an instrumental album of trip-hop inluenced electronica, but it has its moments. It sold diddley squat of course.
In 2003, the reformed Undertones released a new LP "Get What You Need" . The first three tracks, including the single "Thrill Me" make a good case for their continued existence with McLoone sounding a good replacement for Sharkey and the band re-creating their ramalama pop-punk sound. It does lose its grip thereafter slipping into generic garage rock that could be anyone with only "Oh Please" grabbing the attention. It saw no chart action.
In 2004, the band met up with Sharkey at John Peel's funeral; according to Bradley the relations were civilised but cool. In 2005, they played Glastonbury partly in tribute to Peel. Two years later there was another new album "Dig Yourself Deep". With fourteen tracks clocking in at under 33 minutes in total, the album was a more conscious attempt to replicate the classic Undertones sound with numerous little echoes of past glories. It's hard to dislike an album where no track outstays its welcome but again there's only about four that you want to hear again .
Damian also participated in a reformation of That Petrol Emotion playing gigs between 2008 and 2010. In 2012 they reconvened without Mack as The Everlasting Yeah.
In 2013 The Undertones released their most recent new material with a double A-sided single "Much Too Late / Another Girl" to mark Record Store Day. It was restricted to 1,000 numbered copies, underlining just how the importance of a band actually releasing records has declined in recent years. I haven't heard "Another Girl" but "Much Too Late" is an average garage thrash that's instantly forgettable.
In 2014 The Everlasting Yeah released their PledgeMusic funded LP "Anima Rising". With seven long tracks developed from jams and influenced by krautrock , it's not particularly accessible but would probably appeal to TPE fans. Damian also released a vinyl-only ( 500 copies ) solo single "Trapped In A Cage" but I haven't heard that.
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