Subhumans “Crisis Point”
Subhumans “Crisis Point” 2019. Pirates Press Records. My plan today was to write about this latest release from UK punk OGs Subhumans along with a gushing review of the show and great live shots I took this past weekend at one of my favorite new local clubs, X-Ray Arcade, but of course that show was cancelled, along with every other concert and show we’ve had tickets for or plans to see, pretty much for the foreseeable future. So I’ll content myself with listening to some fast, loud and angry punk on vinyl. The amazing thing about good political punk is that the message never gets old – and it’s kinda horrifying that every song they sing is relevant (not like 2019 was that long ago but the world has shifted rather dramatically in the 6 months since this was released), just the way that the tracks from their 1983 masterpiece (and second LP) From the Cradle to the Grave still feel on point (ie one of my punk favorites “Adversity”). Crisis Point is Subhumans’ sixth LP (there’s a bunch of EP’s, too) and the band has the same lineup as it did in ‘83, also amazing. It’s stuffed full of scathing socio-political commentary, aimed at just about everything. My top track is “Follow the Leader” (“Follow the leader and do do as you’re told/How much can you be controlled?”); I also really like some of the other free-thinking tracks like “Punk Machine” (an awesome guitar riff along with “Say no to the man and the industry…”), “Information Gap” (“Disinformation – what do we know? It’s propaganda telling us what we think they need to”) and “Thought is Free” (“Empty brains don’t complain/Are easily trained”). “99%” is really good, too, clearly about the mass wealth inequality in the world. I’m still super-bummed about not getting the chance to see Subhumans though the graffiti-ready stencil packed in the album almost makes up for it.
Daily (maybe) pulls from the vault: 33-1/3, 45, 78, old, older, classic, new, good, bad. Subjective. Autobiographical. Occasionally putting a record up for sale.