“The Boys of Dungeon Lane”: Our Review

The pop world searched fervently for a gift during the 2020 pandemic, and in Sir Paul McCartney, they got it. McCartney III, a sonically ambitious record, proved the erstwhile Beatle was as effortlessly creative as he had ever been. Nearly six years later, a follow-up named The Boys of Dungeon Lane has dropped, a softer affair that doesn’t hold a candle to the antecedent, but demonstrates a wistfulness from a songwriter who has mostly spent his career looking forward, not back.

“Days We Left Behind” is the first single, and wisely so, because it’s the most successful venture in nostalgia. Featuring McCartney virtually alone on an acoustic, he’s happy to let the memories dotting in his mind appear across the fretboard. “No one needs to cry,” the songwriter sings, the voice cracking as he does so.

Anyone hoping for an entire project written to such a high calibre will be disappointed, although the opening tune “As You Lie There” comes close; it’s a pastoral piece recounting the power of a shadow painted on a curtain.

“Ripples On A Pond” takes a 21st-century slant, praising current wife Nancy, a turbo-charged rocker lit up by electronic drums. His voice strains on the explosive bridge, but there’s a galloping solo that should sound tremendous when he invariably plays the number on his forthcoming shows.

Surviving Beatle Ringo Starr cameos on “Home to Us”, a jaunty ballad likely written with McCartney’s sibling Mike in mind. “Momma Gets By, a sparse piano ballad, suits McCartney at this point in his life, though the sentiment of a “man-depending-on-his-woman” is a tad jejune for 2026.

Some of the sentiments echoed on the album are a little on the nose; the title of “Life Can be Hard” says everything about it. The core aphorism of “First Star of the Night” appears to be family above all else in life: it’s a cute thought, if a tad twee.

Just as The Boys of Dungeon Lane comes dangerously close to becoming too soft, the hard-boiled stomper “Come Inside” arrives, permitting the bassist to affect his “Helter Skelter” once more against a legion of sparky hooks. The innuendo actually aids the tune, unlike the more desperate calls for attention as evident on the more risible fodder he’s written, such as “Eat At Home” and “Fuh You”.

The Boys of Dungeon Lane dives back into nostalgia with the bluesy “We Two,” purportedly inspired by a trip he enjoyed with guitarist George Harrison as a teenager.

Harrison, like John Lennon before him, died desperately young, something the 83-year-old McCartney knows only too well. “I never need to go,” he croons, as if making a promise to his fallen comrades to keep their memories alive for as long as he can.

Intriguingly, the number closes with tape loops going off in all sorts of directions, sounding distinctly like the noises that cemented Lennon on “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

The record’s biggest failing is the lack of ambition, particularly apparent when you consider how much McCartney III pushed the envelope. “Mountain Top” utilizes hip-hop beats, and “Salesman Saint” features a vocal device that makes the former Beatle sound hoarser than he is.

For fans of the man who have grown up with him since that 1964 Ed Sullivan Show, the reminiscence will be more than enough. McCartney doesn’t owe the world anything else in life, so he’s singing the songs he wants to sing. Really, isn’t that enough?