Subhumans - Time Flies... But Aeroplanes Crash

SUBHUMANS -

TIME FLIES... BUT AEROPLANES CRASH

Over in Wiltshire, the Subhumans were showing no sign of a let up in their productivity with the release of yet another record from them on their Bluurg label. Time Flies... But Aeroplanes Crash was a 12” EP containing a mixture of live and studio-recorded songs that if truth be told was a bit of a hotchpotch.

Playing live was where the Subhumans were still on their peak form so it was understandable that they'd wish to capture that on vinyl. The original aim of Time Flies was that it be a totally live recording but when it came to it, the intended recording of the concert wasn’t very good so they instead entered the studio and bashed out newer versions of some songs from their guitarist's first band – Stupid Humans – to use alongside a few of the live songs they managed to salvage. The end result, however, wasn't quite as good as they might have hoped and out of the eight songs just three stood out.

The obvious first stand-out track was Susan, in which Dick recited a tale of domestic depression over the sound of a piano, an instrument not ever associated before with the Subhumans.

The second track was Work, Rest, Play, Die; a catchy sing-along that chewed over the subject of conformity, sung almost as though it was an advertising jingle.

The stand-out track, however, was People Are Scared, which contained what was possibly Dick Lucas' most keenly observed and insightful lyrics to that date:

“Nobody says anything on buses, it's not the noise the engine makes. You can watch them all staring nervous, sit at the back, it's the safest place. People are scared to say 'hello', the flick of the fag, the shifting eyes. Stare in amusement then look away, the conscious battle of who to despise. Self-restriction and paranoia, self-belief and the silent laugh. The inner conflict between one and other, when you're all the same it seems so daft.”

Half-spoken, half-screamed, the words are delivered over an almost Jefferson Airplane-style rock piece, Punkified yet shorn of any typical Subhumans thrash.

What was it about situations such as being on a bus or on a tube train that caused people to put up defensive walls of silence? Was it due to being in a confined space with strangers, or that it was simply dead time to get over with as quickly and as hassle-free as possible whilst journeying from one place to another?

Was it but a question of appropriateness and etiquette? Why was it okay to talk to strangers in some situations and places but not in others? In confined spaces, were people afraid for their personal safety and for this reason were suspicious of others' motives? In some cases, yes, but clearly not in all.

Were people wary of talking to strangers on a bus through fear of being judged or misjudged by them? Or was it a case of it actually always being like this and in a confined space it being simply magnified and laid bare? If so, then it was arguably to everyone's detriment but might it also be to anyone's or anything's advantage?

“People are scared underneath their silence. People are getting more afraid. They turn to their leaders for help and guidance and then the system wins again and will carry on winning til god knows when. Til people start to talk to each other, everyone just like a brother. Til the morals and fear that divides us all are no longer the excuse for the system's rule.”

The Subhumans and Dick Lucas with his lyrics in particular were touching upon something of huge significance but did they even realise it? If so, then why the decision to release what was one of their best songs only as a live version tucked away amongst seven other songs on what appeared to be a hastily-produced, almost throwaway mini-album?

People Are Scared was an anomaly but then Time Flies was a record full of anomalies, ending up as it was more through accident rather than design. It wasn't the best thing that Subhumans had released by any means but for the inclusion of nothing other than People Are Scared, it was worth it.

Subhumans - Evolution

SUBHUMANS - EVOLUTION

Running concurrent with all the problems of living in Thatcher's Britain was the whole issue of animal rights that like the campaign for nuclear disarmament was seeing an upsurge of people wanting to get involved so as to put an end to the cruelty. Within the realm of Punk, interest in the subject was initially sparked by Beki Bondage, lead vocalist of Bristol Punk band Vice Squad, who would often talk about it in interviews. Within the realm of Anarcho Punk specifically, Flux Of Pink Indians had placed the issue firmly on the agenda with their Neu Smell EP, causing large numbers of people to search out more information on alternatives to eating meat and on ways to combat vivisection.

Traditionally, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (RSPCA) had always been the organisation to get involved with and to donate money to but increasingly they were being perceived as lacking any sense of urgency and of being rather safe. A more modern and more direct approach was felt to be required, leading to the rise of such groups as the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) and the Animal Liberation Front - the ALF, both of whom openly advocated direct intervention.

Acting as a gesture of solidarity with all those who care for animals and as a wry critique of all those 'benefiting' in any way from experiments on animals, the title track of the next 7" single release by the Subhumans concerned itself with the topic of vivisection in their by now familiar Wiltshire Punk buzz.

Released on their own Bluurg label, the Evolution EP contained four songs, the title track being an infectious blast of sped-up twelve-bar Punk blues over which Dick Lucas blurted out his words: "Out in the garden there's a little white cat and you're catching cancer as you smoke that fag. 'When will they find the cure?' you choke. When enough cats have died of smoke? And they say that animals go for the throat."

Adorned with the same eye-catching style of artwork that graced their debut album, the sleeve contained a list of addresses of where to purchase cruelty-free cosmetics, which was amusing in a way simply because the Subhumans weren't really a band that looked as though personal grooming and hygene were major priorities of theirs.

Subhumans - The Day The Country Died

SUBHUMANS -

THE DAY THE COUNTRY DIED

For the Subhumans, an important signifier as to where England was at was the inner city riots of 1981, the subject of which they chose to name their début LP after. Released on the Spiderleg Records label, The Day The Country Died was a welcome return to former glory, picking up from the point at which they had first exploded into existence with their Demolition War EP.

Delivering sixteen songs of churning, spinning, speeding Punk urgency, from beginning to end the album simply bounced with excitement. The album's title came from the song Black And White and though not explicitly mentioning the riots of '81 by name, it was clear what it was that was being referred to: "Enquiries - but no solutions, faceless - empty illusions. Reasons - are always pushed aside, remember - the day the country died."

On the album's cover, a cartoon image of a spiky-haired Punk Rocker being shot through the head - molotov cocktail in hand - is superimposed over images of police, war, mobs, missiles and newspaper front pages boasting riot news headlines. Without overstating it, the summer of '81 was obviously of meaning to the Subhumans.

When listened to over the length of a whole album it was apparent that the Subhumans were continuing to perform the neat trick of avoiding being pinned down and categorised, and it seemed to be all down to Dick Lucas's lyrics. Whilst the music was a turbo-charged flurry of rushing, thrashing guitar, bouncing bass and snapping drums; in amongst the words were politics, wry observation, social comment, humour, and even poetry: "There's a hole in the bottom of the world 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 - it's a dying world."

Whilst being fully immersed in the by now recognisable mores, activities and practises of the Anarcho Punk scene and whilst being quite capable of seriousness when it came to serious subjects, what differentiated the Subhumans from the rest of the Anarcho Punk pack was Dick Lucas's almost cartoon-like sense of humour. Liberally lacing his songs with comic asides and noises, he could also pen whole songs that read like madcap comedies: "Oh what a great experience my house is full of deviants, my Dad is going mad downstairs, my brother has just dyed his hair. We got Punks and drunks and thrills and pills and lots of things to make your head go round. It's fun fun fun fun fun til the pigs come round."

In one of the longest songs on the album, entitled Mickey Mouse Is Dead, the irreverence in his lyrics is highlighted when he turns the Crass peace chant of '1, 2, 3, 4 - we don't want your fucking war' into a more comically stupid chant of "1, 2, 3, 4 - look what you done to Mickey Mouse."

Though the subject matter of many of the songs was quite morose, the saving grace was in the way that Dick sounded as if he was thoroughly enjoying himself. In the face of doom and gloom the Subhumans were having fun, no better conveyed than in the track No More Gigs, in which Dick depicts a depressing scenario for his band: "In a smoke-filled room, 'How's it going then?'. 'It's not going at all, we got no more gigs'." But even here Dick turns depression on its head and makes a celebration of it: "A bottle of gin, a packet of cigs. Sing, brother, sing - we got no more gigs."

Despite being undeniably supportive of Anarcho Punk ideas, right down to having the 'pay no more' demand on their record sleeves, the Subhumans were far less intense about it than most of their Punk peer group. And unlike most of the other bands of the Anarcho persuasion, they only had one real message to impart and a very simple one at that. A single word message as written all over the inner sleeve of their album: 'Think.'

Wessex '82

WESSEX '82

For quite some time, Dick Lucas had been releasing cassette tapes of early Subhumans demos and gigs on his own Bluurg Tapes label. Buoyed by the success of his band and taking a cue from Spiderleg and Crass Records, the next logical step was to set up his own record label. Bluurg Records was the result and the début release was a 7" compilation EP entitled Wessex '82, featuring one track each from the Subhumans, the Pagans, Organized Chaos, and the A Heads.

With a cover adorned with a photo of the giant white horse cut into the hill at Westbury, the EP was an empathetic gesture of solidarity and support to the Subhumans' Punk neighbours. Apart from their mutual surroundings, all the bands on the record shared a buzzing, tuneful style of Punk that lifted the different vocal styles to a similar level of energised joy.

Lyrically, all the thoughts expressed in the songs shared also an almost world weary cynicism, turned upside down by the music to become celebratory: "No thanks sonny, you're no use any more... You'd better wave goodbye to your dreams... You're just a fucking victim... What's the use in trying too hard?"

If feeling like this was a sign of the times then coming together with like-minded souls was a way perhaps of dealing with it all? Subhumans and the tribe of bands around them as featured on the EP were helping and finding strength in each other to create something from the hopelessness of the world and then moving forward together into a brighter and better future.

Realising that isolation from any centre of activity such as London or any other major city was no hindrance to creativity was a small but very significant step forward. All that was needed was for just one person (such as Dick Lucas, for example) or a small collective of people (such as the Subhumans, for example) to show by example and the ball could start rolling; creating (in Wiltshire, for example) the most extraordinary flowerings (of Punk, for example).

A spark that could light a flame that could start a fire.

Or to quote Situationist Raoul Vaneigem: "From this moment despair ends and tactics begin. Despair is the infantile disorder of the revolutionaries of everyday life."

Subhumans - Religious Wars

SUBHUMANS - RELIGIOUS WARS

And in the game of labelling and categorising, where exactly did Subhumans fit in? Though not a 'Crass band' as such, were they even an Anarcho Punk band or just a straightahead Punk rock band, or something else altogether? This was the stuff that would give many a music journalist a headache though whatever Subhumans might be it was doing nothing to inhibit the Spiderleg label pumping out their records, the next of which being another four-track EP entitled Religious Wars.

Upping the tempo from their last release and returning to their original frantic best, Dick Lucas still seemed to be struggling with a depressed outlook as in the track Love Is: "Love is a bastard, it tears you apart... it fucks you up... it makes you cry. And everything just gets you down down."

Far better though still with a pessimistic title was the track It's Gonna Get Worse (I'm Telling You), containing such truisms as: "Always rising unemployment, always debates on nuclear war. Do you think any government gives a shit what we stand for? You can blame the fucking Tories, every government's the same. They don't believe in the public good, just in their financial gain."

No-one could accuse Subhumans of resting on their laurels, of being non-productive or of not going for it. Though not manifesting itself fully in the records, the same youthful exuberance that was so apparent in their Demolition War EP was still there within the band but only fully showing itself during their live performances.

Subhumans were still very much firm favourites to watch and to keep a close eye on.

Subhumans - Reason For Existence

SUBHUMANS - REASON FOR EXISTENCE

Compared to their début release, Reason For Existence, the second EP by the Subhumans on Spiderleg Records again, was regretfully an exercise in treading water. Gone was the manic speed and sheer joy de vivre, and in its place a more standard Punk guitar sound and a marked cynicism in the lyrics: "What's your reason for existence? Do you believe in anything? Or does your lifestyle contradict the words you write for the songs you sing?"

Inward looking and on a downer, Dick Lucas appeared to be not the happiest of bunnies: "Fag? Fag? Fag? Fag? Fag? No... I got cancer."

If she were a fan, Thatcher may well have been disappointed.

Subhumans - Demolition War

SUBHUMANS - DEMOLITION WAR

Spawned and incubated in the market town of Warminster, in Wiltshire, the Subhumans had gained the attention of Flux Of Pink Indians who having taken their cue from Crass were starting up their own label - Spiderleg Records. Having already released two posthumous singles by their former incarnation The Epileptics, the Demolition War EP by the Subhumans was Flux's first venture into releasing material by other bands and a more thrilling début would be hard to imagine.

Comprised of six dizzy bursts of frantic energy, Demolition War absolutely exploded with youthful enthusiasm underpinning a seriousness of intent. Right from the word "Go!" as shouted by vocalist Dick Lucas in opening track Parasites, it was apparent that the Subhumans were somewhat different from other Punk groups. Whether that difference was due to the impact of Crass upon their musical tastes or due simply to their Wiltshire roots, the end result was joyfully exhilarating.

Displaying their political sentiments immediately with such lines as "The government are real good to us, they crowd in their shelters and let us die," and "A choice of three for democracy and they're all parasites," the Demolition War EP was like a jet fighter plane roaring along the runway before launching into the stratosphere with the final song on the record entitled Human Error.

When The Clash unleashed their version of Junior Murvin's Police And Thieves upon the world in 1977, little did they know that not only were they building a bridge between Punk and reggae but were also creating a template for how reggae could be played by white rockers. That template was given a punkier, more metallic twist by Stiff Little Fingers with their version of Bob Marley's Johnny Was which likewise was to be a huge influence upon many other bands.

The track Human Error by the Subhumans was another turn of the screw, upping the tempo to ska level and adding Punk thrash guitar to again create something entirely new. This particular song was a signpost pointing to a future direction in which a whole wave of people and bands would one day take, not least Dick Lucas himself, reflecting the well-known anarchist adage 'If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution'.

In the meantime, however, it was enough to have Dick informing everyone that "There are no patriots no more, who's gonna fight in the Third World War - not me!" and declaring "Our society - what a drag! Our society - what a fucking drag! RIOT!!!"