UK Subs

Originally formed under the name U.K Subversives, lead singer Charlie Harper wanted his band to bridge a divide that Harper felt shouldn’t be there. A rhythm & blues blues singer by trade, he nonetheless felt a strong kinship with the up and coming punk rock movement. In his mind, it shared too many similarities with the thriving, blues influenced pub-rock scene to be separate from it. So in 1976, he put together the first line-up of what would later become the U.K Subs to act as a bridge between the two scenes. Despite the line-up of the band changing frequently at first, the band scored their first session on Radio 1 legend John Peel’s radio show in 1977, and would go on to have several more in the next two years. These sessions were vital to the success of the band, and as a direct result of them they scored a record deal with GEM Records in 1979.

They released their debut album “Another Kind Of Blues” the very same year, and both the album and its lead single “Stranglehold” were top 30 hits on the albums and singles charts. Between 79’ and 81’ the band were hailed as one of the last true punk bands to see mainstream success, with their 1980 album “Crash Course” rocketing into the top ten at number eight. However, they were not able to maintain this kind of success, especially as straight punk rock was becoming increasingly passé in the face of the much cooler New Wave movement. However, Harper and the Subs were far stronger than fashion, and the band kept on going stronger than they ever were, releasing album after album and touring with the likes of The Ramones and Agent Orange all throughout the 1980’s.

The band remain cult heroes to this very day, a band who many more famous acts wouldn’t exist without. Guns N’ Roses themselves paid tribute to them on their covers record “The Spaghetti Incident?” with a version of their track “Down On The Farm”. With a back catalogue of tracks that would make any punk band worth their salt green with envy, and a live show that delivers every single time, the U.K Subs come highly recommended.

Prior to the formation of Subhumans in 1980, vocalist Dick Lucas had played in the local band, The Mental. Lucas was then joined by guitarist Bruce Treasure and drummer Andy Gale, before former-Audio Torture bassist Grant Jackson joined the fold. Initially performing under the moniker Superhumans at the request of Bruce’s mother, by the end of 1980 Subhumans was cemented with Trotsky replacing Gale on drums. In 1981 the band issued a debut demo tape which caught the attention of punk band Flux of Pink Indians, who offered Subhumans a record release on their Spiderleg Records label. That record surfaced in December 1981 as the EP “Demolition War”.

Whilst failing to significantly raise the band’s profile, the record led to the subsequent EPs “Reasons for Existence” and “Religious Wars” in 1982. The same year Subhumans formed their own label Bluurg Records, which focused on cassette recordings. In 1983, once again released on Spiderleg Records, Subhuman issued their debut, studio album “The Day The Country Died”. Now considered a classic and quintessential release of the anarcho-punk genre, the record has its thematic roots in George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, epitomised on the single “Big Brother”.

Marking the band’s first solo release on their label Bluurg, Subhuman’s subsequently released the EP “Evolution” in 1983. The full-length “From the Cradle to the Grave” followed the same year, as did the EP “Time Flies… but Aeroplanes Crash”, featuring both live and studio tracks. Following the release of their third full-length “Worlds Apart” in 1985, the band split citing differences in musical direction. Far-removed from the band’s initial hardcore recordings, the band’s final release “29:29 Split Vision”, showcases Subhumans’ more melodic, sung aesthetic.

Dick Lucas went on to join Culture Shock in 1986 and subsequently form the ska-punk outfit Citizen Fish in 1990. A brief Subhumans reunion occurred in 1990, before a fully-fledged reunion tour in 1998 of the UK and U.S. In 1998 the band release an EP of previously unreleased recordings “Unfinished Business”, before issuing the live album “Live in a Dive” on Fat Wreck Chords. The band’s fifth studio album “Internal Riot” arrived in 2007, followed by a tour of Europe and the U.S.