Wednesday, July 06, 2005

The Subways - Young For Eternity

Much hyped, and hotly anticpated, it was always a question of could the Subways debut long-player live up to two great singles (Rock And Roll Queen and the absolutely fan-bloody-tastic Oh Yeah) and wow across the board...the answer is not quite, but it's not bloody far off.

The two afformentioned singles both play off the tension between lead singer Billy and his lovely guitar playing girlfriend Charlotte and much like last year with the Von Blondies, I fail to see why more rock groups haven't gone for the male/female dynamic, which is totally underused. Sexual frission burns the air throughout this album, and it's all the better for it.

The two great singles are not the only highspots on the album; Lines Of Light slows things down somewhat, and remarkably doesn't bring the quality down, and Holiday, clocking in at a wonderful 1 minute 50 seconds, would be a punk rock hit in any era.

There are some duffer tracks in amongst all this, but for a band so young this is a remarkably strong debut and makes you salivate at what else might be in store in the future. It's brash, it's cocky and it's hormonal. You just have to hope "maturity" doesn't set in too near in the future...

Icon's View - 3 1/2 out of 5

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