10 Best Rock Bands From Ireland

10. The Undertones

The Derry-based Undertones formed and played at a time of great strife, as the Troubles raged across their hotly disputed city. While other bands in their orbit channelled the fighting and chaos into their music, though, The Undertones went the other direction, turning inwards and creating fantastic adolescent anthems by way of escape.

The universal nature of this music was the whole point, and is what keeps much of their work sounding so fresh and relevant today. The big hit is of course “Teenage Kicks”, and while its lyric is prone to innuendo-laced interpretation, its sugary punk guitars and perfectly pitched sense of longing means it’ll be evergreen.

The band grew up over their tenure, and while the hits like “Here Comes The Summer” couldn’t last forever, their later records, like the underrated “Sin Of Pride”, use the tension of the days in which they were recorded to create something moody and fascinating.