The Subways sound eternally young at the Troubadour
Kevin Bronson on
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Much has changed since 2006 — world politics, the distribution of music, Tiger Woods’ golf swing, Bruce Jenner.
But the song remains the same for U.K. trio The Subways, whose bratty, boozy garage-punk has aged well since they buzzed American audiences with the single “Rock & Roll Queen” a decade ago. In fact, the music might have aged better than their pogoing-ready fanbase, who found Tuesday night at the Troubadour that they might not have the same hops at age 30 than they did at 20.
And that’s what made the Subways’ L.A. visit — the last on their first U.S. tour in eight years — both good news and bad news. The good: The new music from the trio of singer-guitarist Billy Lunn, singer-bassist Charlotte Cooper and drummer Josh Morgan has the same snap-crackle-pop as 2005’s “Young for Eternity” did. The bad: They were largely playing to the same fans they on their last visit to L.A. in August 2008, when they were touring behind their sophomore album “All or Nothing.”
It made you wonder what they could do in front of, say, FIDLAR’s crowd, or at Burgerama. (Or what FIDLAR’s crowd might look like if that band went away until 2026 and returned to play a show.)
- ||| Photos by Michelle Shiers
During their long absence from these shores, the Subways have released two more albums, 2011’s “Money and Celebrity” and a new self-titled affair, released last year in the U.K. and in April in the U.S. (via Bodan Kuma).
On Tuesday, with Lunn in fine form musically and oratorically, the trio did a nifty job of servicing the old and selling the new. They began by hopscotching between Albums 1 and 2, with “Kalifornia,” “Mary,” “Shake! Shake!” and “Oh Yeah” before quieting the sing-alongs (and there were plenty) by introducing new album tracks “Dirty Muddy Paws” and “Taking All the Blame.”
In between, Lunn engaged in some comic banter, as when he gave props to Morgan for being the backbone of the band. “Drummers hardly ever get the chance to shine, unless they’re Phil Collins,” Lunn said, “and who gives a f*ck about Phil Collins.”
The 2011 song “Popdeath” was an easy sell: “We can wait up all night / But nothing’s gonna change / It’s just another popdeath,” Lunn blares, before the band played “I Wanna Hear” and “Good Times,” made 10 years apart but cut from the same coarse cloth. The Clash-indebted “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” followed, with “At 1 AM” and “Girls and Boys” then inducing some spirited head-banging. Lunn introduced “We Don’t Need Money” with an anecdote about the newly unemployed friend who inspired the song, and the Subways finished he main set with the post-punk riffage of “Celebrity.”
The frontman then eschewed the ritual of leaving the stage prior to the encore, saying “We’re gonna forgo that pretentious B.S.,” and leading the band into the tender build of “With You.” The raging soon resumed with “Black Letter” and “It’s a Party,” which Lunn dedicated to the late Prince. He went on a crowd-surfing excursion during that one.
For the finale “Rock & Roll Queen,” all hands — including most impressive opening band PINS and some members of the crowd — danced onstage. After 75 sweaty minutes, it was a fitting finish for a trio who can only try, as many do, to sound young for eternity, but who certainly should not have stayed away so long.
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