THE SUBS in natural habitat. (Pic by Paul Slattery)
Sounds. ?? ? 1980
UK SUBS
'Brand New Age'
(GEMLP 106)*****
THE SUBS in natural habitat. (Pic by Paul Slattery)
WHEN I was at school we used to have a big fat Scottish Geography teacher who was forever clotting you round the head and saying 'I never repeat myself, I NEVER repeat myself'. He always used to say it twice, but besides taking the piss out of last week's Pop Group review, the reason I brought up the gross old see you next Tuesday is that he'd have got the right arsehole with the Subs because they have repeated themselves. They've achieved what few punk bands have ever achieved - a second album as good as their debut when the debut was a classic.
You scoff? Oh ye of little faith. Fourteen tracks we get here (well thirteen and a half) and they're loaded to the gills with heads down no nonsense pogo power in that luvable Subs rowdy-singalong-punchy-metal style you either love or hate. Me I don't fink I'll get enough of that punky stuff, there's just nothing as moving, me dears, and I'd say 'Brand New Age' was guaranteed to create more movement than a dose of Epsom Salts through a diahorretic Dumbo.
There's no surprises here, but no disappointment either, 'cos the material is all good solid stuff, no dodos. And yeah, I know that last year the band came to represent punk when the movement had died and it'd got silly and all image instead of the energy front and on this showing they never will. Importantly Charlie's lyrics are probably more socially aware now than ever so they were probably aware of the problems.
Sure his own politics are still vague anarchism but the targets for his distaste, bureaucracy and militarism, are spot on in the baddy stakes. 'Organised Crime' chucks a brick at today's system of government - 'There's a man who takes your cigarettes/there's a man who takes your car/There's a man who takes the piss out of you/He's the biggest thief of all/He's a government official/Knocking at your door/He's a government official/Coming back for more/He's organised/(Organised crime/Organised crime)'
'Public Servant' the attention to Whitehall in a similarly holler along manner, while 'Bomb Factory' with its siren opening and crunchy chordal spine points the finger at nuclear power and ties in with the theme of 'Warhead' - alongside 'Bad Man' and 'Going Underground' one of the year's finest singles and also proof that the band can change tempo without losing impact.
'Warhead' is the only number that deserts the straight and narrow though they do wander into the old souped up R&B with 'Dirty Girls' (more of Chas' suspect fantasies - he likes the girls at the back of the Music Machine who apparantly go 'Yeah-Yeah-Yeah over punchy guitar and twirling drums) and '500 CC' which straddles the old HM imagery.
'Emotional Blackmail' sees the spill-over more from imagery to moosic. Whether this is old wave punk, new wave metal or blow wave punk metal crossover I haven't got the foggiest but I do know It's rankly in order material crunching in with powerchords and drum bursts, driving along nicely and then half-way through taking off into overdrive with more power than Trevor Brooking's right leg (I rekon it's because the band realised the HM-ness of the track that they split it in half and slammed 'Emotional Blackmail 11' on the album's tail).
Meantimes we get 'You Can't Take It Anymore' opening side one with a slinky little bass line intro building into a kind of Crass-with class affair with Charlie repeating the title as a playground taunt before rabbiting on about something incomprehensible. (It's actually this track where the slightly muddy mix is most annoying but that's easily solved with a tactical twist of the bass and treble controls.)
And that just leaves some strong archetypal rabble-rousing stuff, 'Rat Race', 'Brand New Age', 'Barbie's Dead', 'Kicks' and 'Teenage' all excellent punk-shout affairs.
A lot of people who never liked punk when it started but who are now portraying themselves as new wave authorities will really slam into this album, but no-one will take any notice of them because we've all got long memories.
Others will berate the band for trying not to 'progress' but I rekon 'Warhead' indicates that change will come in time. For the moment it doesn't sound formula/jaded, and it still works so arseholes.
Finally Charlie will get a severe ribbing for his age, but the fact that he can captain a team this hot is living proof that age is in your head and up there Charlie is still a teenager.
I dunno, I reckon this is my week. Not only does Doug Trendle's huge girth make my own 12-stone max seem positively lithe-like but good old Chas makes me being 24 this year seem like I've just graduated out of nursery school. Things are looking up kids, things are looking up. Now if we could just force the Tories out and all. . .
GARRY BUSHELL