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If you tell a true ’80s punk fan that the Subhumans are playing a gig, you’ll need to clarify which Subhumans you’re talking about. There’s the Subhumans from the early ’80s Vancouver punk scene, who rocked alongside bands like D.O.A. and the Pointed Sticks, and then there’s the Subhumans from the U.K., who were going strong in the early ’80s with contemporaries like Crass and Rudimentary Peni. We’re talking about the U.K. Subhumans, the band that released such sociopolitical punk albums as The Day the Country Died (1983) and Worlds Apart (1985). The band continues to tour, despite not releasing an album of new material since 1986 (but three of the four members of Subhumans have recorded numerous albums as Citizen Fish). Subhumans still manage to put some surprises on the merch table, though, like their long-out-of-print EP Unfinished Business, which magically appeared for sale on the band’s 2005 tour. And fortunately, snotty super-punk Subhumans songs like “Religious Wars,” “Apathy,” and “Walls of Silence” still sound just as fresh as any “punk” coming over the airwaves today.
