The Subways – “Young For Eternity”

Young for Eternity is UK Indie act The Subways’ first album and I think they’ve got something more than debutante luck when it comes to putting together simple chord arrangements and throat-blasting vocals. I think it’s unfair to say that their sound is nothing more than evocative of a grunge revival, but if they’re merely aping the sounds of Nirvana, then they’ve tapped into the very heart of it.

Yes, if you liked Nirvana and you have an open mind for up and coming talent, you’ll want to give this album a spin. But The Subways infuse their tunes with something more; perhaps what you could call a hint of British garage rock influence. Either way, their music is light on frills and heavy on rollicking power chord sequences that should be played at full blast.

By far my favourite track is “Young for Eternity,” which starts with a simple pounding that gives way to Billy Lunn’s great lyric that goes, “Thank God for Dracula/He sucked the shit outta me/Now I can leave my work for nights/And leave my day for sleeping.” Sometimes it sorta seems like The Subways are undead wraiths, running on an unholy energy that makes their young souls play music with polish that a lot of older bands spend many years trying to manifest. Right out of the gate, they’ve recorded an album of awesome tracks that make you wonder if they struck a deal with the devil to get this good this young.

The album actually has some nice ballad-type sounds on it as well as the harder stuff. “Somewhere at 1 AM” is a great mellow track, but you have to keep listening once it fades out because there’s a bonus rendition hidden later. I like “She Sun” a lot as well, it’s quite dreamy and ethereal.

But Young for Eternity is mainly good old fashioned rock & roll. Just turn it up and crack a cold one. But it has something more in the duets sung by Lunn and bass-playing sweetheart Charlotte Cooper. Her voice is pure rock & roll vixen, and she’s sexy as hell without it being a gimmick, especially on “Somewhere at 1 AM” (At 1 AM/He’s just walkin’/Like a demon/Blue eyes black hair but he don’t care that I want him/That I need him/I need his heart cuz mine is broken). With lots of women compromising themselves in modern music by relying on their tits and ass to sell records, it seems like Cooper is one of the few who is really about the music.

It’s reassuring to know that there are bands like The Subways that still create no-frills rock that not only honours grandaddies like Kurt Cobain, but also lets us know that the future of the art form is safe. I’m going to see the band in March at the Mod Club in Toronto. They’re playing on the 11th and the tickets are $12.50 at the venue, or you can get them through all the usual sources like Ticketmaster. They charge like four bucks extra though, so I suggest you avoid them. In the end though, maybe big business that sucks the soul out of art in the name of profit is the reason bands like The Subways have come to exist, to carry the torch of all that is genuine about rock & roll. Or perhaps we have Dracula to thank, if Billy Lunn really has been imbued with the unnatural ability to sing top notch rock songs for eternity.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. I Want to Hear What You Have Got to Say
02. Holiday
03. Rock & Roll Queen
04. Mary
05. Your For Eternity
06. Lines of Light
07. Oh Yeah
08. City Pavement
09. No Goodbyes
10. With You
11. She Sun
12. Somewhere
13. Encore at 1am

Run Time: 42:12
Release Date: 2006