Let me start out by saying a few things. I have traditionally strayed away from anything that willingly attached itself to shows such as The O.C. To be honest, I’m not even sure if the term, The O.C. (read: The Orange County) makes any sense, but we aren’t here to debate semantics or grammaticism. Although, I have to say that someone over at Fox knows their stuff; I groaned when The O.C. played Death Cab for Cutie but when they then also played Franz Ferdinand, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Hot Hot Heat, The Killers, Louis XIV, LCD Soundsystem, and The Subways I had to concede. Given the fact that I personally discovered this gem, The Subways, while my girlfriend (I swear she was watching it and not me) was watching this show, I have no problem giving credit where credit is deserved.
The Subways’ album, Young for Eternity is the best CD by a new artist to traverse the channels between the U.K. and its fledgling son since Franz Ferdinand’s or Kaiser Chiefs’ debut albums. When you consider the band's combined age of barely-breaking-a-half-century, you’ll realize The Subways is a name you may have to get used to. With their age comes an undeniable, and seemingly unavoidable, angst and lyrical immaturity. For a first release though, having your lack of lyrical experience called into question isn’t too harsh of a criticism.
The opening track, “I Want to Hear What You Have Got to Say” is misleading through the course of its opening lines. I found myself constantly questioning the genre and influences which produced this unique and enjoyable sound. I quickly found that this opening track serves as the “get used to this” factor for the rest of the album. The influences aren’t hard to point out as long as you will allow yourself to choose a new one for each song. The album seems to run the gamut genre-wise from the Green Day influenced rifts of “Holiday”, to the indie-folk influences of “Mary", to the most impressive '80s metal influences of “Young for Eternity.” The album in general is a quick and easy listen no matter what genre you are into, but it has a built in bonus for those who traverse genres.
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1 - Connie Phillips
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