The Number Ones

The Number Ones

The Number Ones—a punk-pop quartet from Dublin, Ireland—play joyful rock ’n’ roll music that’s been the goal of so many groups who learned the beauty of simplicity from The Ramones. At roughly 20 minutes, this debut album plays like a rocket. When it slows down for “Girl,” it does so with the same moderating sense of “I Wanna Be Well” or “Ramona” on Rocket to Russia. In other words, perfectly and with a melodic richness that makes up for the “slowdown.” At more than two minutes apiece, “Girl” and “Sharon Shouldn’t” are the album’s epics, while the enjoyable blasts of “Sixteen” and “Boy” clock in at magical one minute and 21 seconds and 22 seconds, respectively. It’s a win-win formula brought to genuine life by a production that’s clear but with dirty guitars and a rhythm section that never does more than it should. Just as The Ramones once deserved a string of Top 40 hits that never came, The Number Ones are likely to be loved by their cult audience who feel their brilliance.

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