Live Music: The Subways, The Sunshine Underground, Wry

The Subways + Sunshine Underground + Wry
Rock City, Nottingham
September 6th
Guest Reviewer Mike Treece




Firstly, a confession: I don’t really like indie music. Not that I can’t recognise a good song when I hear it, but so much of the genre seems more concerned with looking cool than with originality and musical intelligence (see: The Kooks). So I was not expecting to enjoy the whole gig: I hoped that the hits would be enough to leave me satisfied with the night as a whole. So I was pleasantly surprised by the wealth of talent on display.

First, though, I had to listen to Wry. These hopeless poseurs somehow managed to set the crowd alight with their own brand of generic, sub-Snow Patrol whinging. Original melodic ideas were scarce but the crowd lapped it up and the band responded, rocking out like a 14-year old who had just learnt to play Smells Like Teen Spirit. While such enthusiasm is hard to fault, I’ve come to expect better, even from a support band. Coming to an indie disco near you soon. Sadly. 35

The Sunshine Underground were a much different proposition. Their style of funky indie is genuinely new, sounding like a mixture of early Red Hot Chili Peppers and Franz Ferdinand at their best. The only gripe worth mentioning is that they have yet to write a really big hook or chorus, but they’ve plenty of time. They have the potential to be miles better than, if not a big as, any of the current generation of radio-friendly indie-rock bands. 65

When The Subways finally hit the stage the atmosphere was excellent, the crowd thoroughly in the mood having responded to both support acts. Set-opener With You proved an excellent choice, appealing to both hardcore fans and the uninitiated. The dark Young for Eternity followed this, proving that the band can write a straight rock song when they feel like it. During the first part of the set, bassist Charlotte’s vocals were a little indistinct, a pity, as these serve to separate The Subways from many an indie-punk band. Fortunately this was soon corrected.

As the set progressed the band threw in some new material in the form of Girls And Boys and Shake! Shake! While these were solid enough, they lack the spark of some of the best material off the first album. The excellent Oh Yeah proved a reminder of how the band can perform, epitomised by frontman Billy’s athletics around the stage and climbs on amplifiers. Set-closer Somewhere was suitably anthemic, and for me was the best song so far.

However, it was the encore that really showed what the band could do. Perfect ska-edged songwriting in the form of Mary. An exciting new song entitled Clocks. And superb performance during Rock and Roll Queen, culminating in the first stage dive I have seen in five years of gig-going. The subways may never conquer the world, but if they keep playing like they did tonight, they’ll always have an audience. 79