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Class 6(66)
Subhumans: The day the country died
06/09/10 || Daemonomania
Introduction
Consider this a companion piece to my Fresh fruit for rotting vegetables review. As I explained way back then, after moving on past punk and into metal there are very few albums in the genre that still inhabit my playlist. “The day the country died” is most certainly one of them. Ze Subhumans take a template laid down by the Sex Pistols and hone it into a sharp, pointy stick to jab into the eye of the establishment. Need the perfect soundtrack to cut your hair into a Mohawk, get a bad tattoo, and whine about the system all night long? Look no further. If you steal a copy you will instantly accrue 5000 scenepoints, which can be traded in for either an American flag soaked in petrol or a date with a super-cute 17 year old who will have forgotten what punk is in two years.
Songwriting
10. Yes, a ten. The Subhumans were part of a very select group of early 80’s punk which walked the razor’s edge between anarchy and accessibility. There is a surprising amount of variety displayed too – from the building explosion of “Subvert city” to the madcap “Til the pigs come round” to the stunning closing chorus of “Black and white” – for the type of music at hand we’re talking master-class shit. Very easy to pop in and listen from front to back, with plenty of favorites and memorable moments along the way. There’s not a song on this album I’d change significantly.
Production
10. Dunno if this got cleaned up in the reissue process, but TDTCD has just the right mix of grit without being a murky mess. Something about the production early 80’s punk albums is PERFECTION. Those days are long gone. I’ve lost touch with the “scene” for about a decade, but the absolute glitterfest that poses for mainstream pop punk now is abominable.
Guitars
8. Morons will be stunned to find that the guitar work on a punk album is far inferior to their favorite technical death metal double disc! Holy fucken fuck! For the rest of us, revel in the simplicity and catchiness of Bruce Treasure’s (?) caustic six string assault. Stockpiles of fun and furious riffs await thee. The only other Subhumans album I have is “EP/LP”, and the band tries to be a bit too violent for its own good there. But on TDTCD Treasure focuses on writing memorable content, and succeeds mightily.
Vocals
9. Quintessential snotty English punk vocals. Oft emulated, never re-created. Sure Dick Lucas isn’t a great singer in the traditional sense, but he is just the right guy for this band like Jello is just the right guy for the Dead Kennedys. Lucas has plenty of bite and venom in his voice, and his delivery really cranks up the lyrics’ satirical, hopeless bent. If it hasn’t been conveyed already, it is the vocals that carry this album. Despite some good riffs there’d be very little to grasp onto without the politically charged rants pumping life into the tunes. I’d take Lucas over Johnny Rotten any day. And twice on bleedin’ Sunday. Bangers ‘n mash!
Bass
8. Bass is pretty important in pawnk rawk, and the enigmatic Phil performs his duties with aplomb. The only section that comes immediately to mind is his cool little solo at the beginning of “Ashtray dirt”, but there’s plenty more bass to be heard on “TDTCD”.
Drums
5. Can you name a great punk drummer off the top of your head? I can’t. You can? Fuck off. What’s most impressive about the Subhuman’s rhythm section is that they managed to resurrect Leon Trotsky just to beat the skins for their band. Sure he would have liked to pursue the worldwide revolution and spit on a picture of Stalin, but since the ‘Humans exhumed him they get to dictate his activities.
Lyrics
10. Mean as hell – part political, part nihilism, part sarcasm.
There’s a hole at the bottom of the earth
Where the blood pours out at the end of the day
When the usual amount of people have died
Sit back and watch the death and decay
Cheerio!
Plenty of Orwellian influence too – the government is a spying, lying, creeping juggernaut whose sole mission is to monitor your activities then kill you. Paranoia ain’t the only subject at hand. “Killing” seems to reference Sid Vicious, “Til the pigs come round” is a hilariously fast drug romp, and the pure nastiness of “Mickey Mouse is dead” and “Zyklon – B – Movie” has to be heard to be believed. Best lyrics on the album are definitely showcased in “Subvert city” though. It tells the story of a town inhabited solely by anarcho-tossers who hate the Powers that Be. Of course those Powers trap them underground and gas the shit out of ‘em. The tossers emerge years later alive and pretty pissed. They plan to change the government by becoming politicians themselves, but at this point the people have won freedom and self-rule. Back in good ole Subvert City, however, someone else is agitating against this new and supposedly improved administration. Thus the cyclical nature of revolution is revealed but not worshiped.
Cover art
9. Do album covers get any better than this? They certainly tried to fit every single subject that was ever discussed in punk rock ever into a single image. You’ve got your poorly drawn out-of-shape neo-hippie getting capped in the brain while protesting. An evil police officer and a shady priest look on. Molotov cocktails, squiggle mazes, and soldiers are involved in some way. Helicopters and warplanes launch missiles and drop bombs respectively. Aaaaarrrgggh! I have had a t-shirt with this cover on it for many moons, and proudly wear it even now.
Logo
6. If you’ve ever attended a punk show you’ve certainly seen someone with a Subhumans patch. Might be the logo, might be a skullface screaming into the mic from the cover of the “EP/LP” album. The SS at either end certainly is provocative. But nothing revelatory in writing your band name and then splitting it into three equal sections.
Booklet
7.7777. My booklet is long gone. So who knows? I’ll imagine that it is filled with lyrics, band pictures, and detailed instructions on how to take down the government while forcing the Queen to rim you.
Overall and ending rant
What else can I say? If you hate punk, avoid like the plague. If you’re mildly interested in the genre this disc is a fucken gem. Not a bad place to start at all, and the aforementioned scene cred bounty many seek shall be yours for eternity. If you’ve considered yourself a real-deal punker at any point prior to the advent of the modern Green Day shitfest era, this should already be in your collection. Like it is in mine. “The day…” brings back those heady times when I could raise a scrawny teenage fist for the rebellion and not feel like a complete retard. That was quite a while ago, sadly.
- Information
- Released: 1983
- Label: Spiderleg, later Bluurg
- Website: www.artofthestate.co.uk
- Band
- Dick Lucas: vocals
- Bruce Treasure: guitars, vocals
- Phil: bass
- Trotsky: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. All Gone Dead
- 02. Ashtray Dirt
- 03. Killing
- 04. Minority
- 05. Mickey Mouse Is Dead
- 06. Nothing I Can Do
- 07. Dying World
- 08. Subvert City
- 09. Big Brother
- 10. NEW AGE
- 11. I Don’t Wanna Die
- 12. NO
- 13. Zyklon – B – Movie
- 14. ‘Til The Pigs Come Round
- 15. No More Gigs
- 16. Black And White
