by Phil Bryant
The UK’s Subhumans started out in an era that still holds a lot of sway, for better or worse, over our present-day social and economic ordering. To see frontman and sole original Subhumans member Dick Lucas on tour today is to consider that he might have been a prophet.
Lucas, originally of The Mental, joined forces in 1980 with members of another British punk band, Stupid Humans, to make direct, uncompromising music that urged listeners to look at the world without illusion. Their first full-length album, 1982’s The Day The Country Died, was an outburst of pent-up energy and diagnostic rage recalling the advent of the Sex Pistols, minus the nihilism.
The album contains anarcho-punk gems such as “Mickey Mouse is Dead” and “No,” and lyrics that may be more relevant than ever. “Theres a scanner in the toilet/to watch you take a bath/And there’s a picture of Hiroshima/to make sure you never laugh,” Lucas chants on “Big Brother” to guitars crashing like planes overhead.
1983’s From The Cradle To The Grave was anchored by a 17-minute title track that blended an EP’s worth of music into a shimmery atmospheric showcase of newfound dynamic range — more melodic, with true push and and pull, moments of introspection building up to classic Brit-punk breakouts. Worlds Apart, from 1985, preceded the band’s first hiatus, with brooders influenced by the reggae-punk fusion of Bad Brains, faster songs aligned with the rise of hardcore, and what sounded like forays into Scratch Acid noise rock.
A post-breakup farewell album, 29:29 Split Vision, followed and Lucas went on to pursue his interest in ska with Culture Shock and Citizen Fish. Subhumans later regrouped for tours, and then released new albums: 2007’s Internal Riot and 2019’s Crisis Point. Both step into earlier selves to fight battles old and new amid the modern wars of attention and ongoing global class struggle. “Too Fat Too Thin” tackles identity crises and corrosive social standards. “Never Ending War Song” could be played at any antiwar protest today.
Subhumans and The Iron Roses play 7pm Saturday, June 27 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. subhumans.net ~ Erik Kvarnberg and Sean Piccoli
