Well would you believe it, a band that had disappeared off of my radar for the past thirty years are set to make a rare appearance in Sussex this summer.
I’m referring to possibly Wiltshire’s finest anarcho-punk outfit Subhumans, who always wrote their name as ‘SUB HUM ANS’ and accompanying skull logo. The guys initially formed way back in 1980 and caused mayhem with their album and EP releases and gigs for a handful of years and then simply called it a day.
I can remember purchasing their four song ‘Reasons For Existence’ EP back in 1982. It was released at a time when punk was on it’s second or third incarnation and everything had gone hardcore and very fast, with songs rarely reaching the two minute mark. It was a time of shouty vocals with a majority of bands really having something to say. But it seemed to me that my Subhumans EP was a tad different from all of the others as it was tackling subjects that were quite frankly a tad uncomfortable for a late teen in Brighton.
My four song EP had a running time of just over eight minutes in total, but the messages contained therein certainly left their mark on me. For instance, the final track was the hard hitting affair called ‘Cancer’, which in no uncertain terms dealt with the pier pressure of smoking. If ever there was a song to help people cut the habit then surely this was it! The end of the tune goes “C’mon! Don’t you want a fag?, You! Why don’t you want a fag?, Fag?, Fag? Fag? Fag? Fag? Fag? Fag? Fag? Fag? Fag?, NO…I GOT CANCER!, (cough, cough)”. Hard hitting message, right!
Another song on the EP was called ‘Peroxide’, which as far as I could personally work out was about a young girl that was lost in society and dyed her hair to fit in with the punks but no-one cared. Some of the lyrics read “Peroxide! Peroxide!, Because nobody cares?, What do you do?, You dye your hair”. Subhumans were experts at crafting songs with conscience!
The singer on my 1982 EP was a talented guy called Dick Lucas and thankfully he is still on the case with the current lineup. In fact, the current guitarist Bruce Treasure and current drummer Trotsky were also on my EP, with the only change being bassist Grant Jackson left in 1983 and his replacement Phil Bryant has been there ever since.
So what we have is a punk band whose newest member joined around 36 years ago. It’s virtually an original lineup and that’s the one that will be dropping into the Con Club at 139 High Street, Lewes, BN7 1XS on Sunday 2nd June 2019.
They will be joined by no less than three other acts, Rotten Foxes, Cockwomble and The Dinz! two of which are based in the Brighton area and The Dinz from Southsea. So it’s sure going to be an action packed night with a fast turnaround of personnel on stage in between the fast music!
Tickets can be purchased online HERE.
Listen to Subhumans HERE and more on the band HERE.
