The Subways: Young For Eternity

This British trio does two things right:
1) They make solid, guitar-driven rock
2) They don't try to hide their Britishness at all.

There's some punk(old and new) rock, the typical "indie" sound, and even a hint of what I feel is Smashing Pumpkins.

I think I need to get past using the term "rock" to describe music, as it's the default description, just like "uhm" is the default pause word. Let's see if I can finish this without using "rock."

Billy Lunn's got the voice that would almost have fit in during the Punk revolution, except it's almost too melodic, to honed. The backing vocalist, Charlotte Cooper, reminds me of a british Yeah Yeah Yeah's singer.

I Want To Hear What You've Got To Say starts out almost Death Cab For Cutie-ish, with simplistic vocals and an acoustic guitar, then kicks it into higher gear.

Rock and Roll Queen (I can use rock if it's the song title) kicks it right from the gate, with the drummer doing the best week keeping a clean, simple beat behind the guitar's antics.

No Goodbyes cools things off a bit, later in the album, but not in a bad way. Even if you're album is only 40 minutes and 13 tracks, singing hard as Lunn does can take it's toll. And this song allows him to rest, to harmonize nicely with Cooper, and show a bit more range of the band.

In the End: Fans of fast, short, dirty rock, a la punk, will enjoy this immensely. The album paces nicely, taking you on a musical ebb and flow. The near-screaming at points may turn off a few, but if you can stomache Bristish sing-screaming, you'll love this. And, really, who doesn't love to hear some singer belt out "holiday" in that way only a Brit can?