It must be pretty hard for bands to have a “bell curve” career during the span of just over a decade.
So in a sense The Subways are more or less back to where they started and that also encompasses their musical sensibilities too.
The Tut’s crowd seems moderately up for some indie/pop/punk and the venue is quite busy.
Billy Lunn, Charlotte Cooper and Josh Morgan are a tight unit and they write competent straight-forward poppy-rock songs, the problem is that the songs they do write are standard affair and they still seem to be stuck in the mid 2000s in terms of their accomplished musicianship.
Unfortunately, there is nothing new to offer tonight and the gig sits on a pivot between being pretty boring and occasionally mediocre.
The band kicks off with the energetic but tuneless ‘Oh Yeah’, from 2005’s Young for Eternity and break straight into ‘Shake! Shake!’ which offers a slightly more upbeat and melodic chorus.
Lunn is a good frontman and he is helped by Cooper’s energetic performance, while highlights come from the album All Or Nothing, including ‘Let You Down’ with it’s catchy chorus and pounding drums, which simmers into a nice middle section, only to blast back into the most melodic chant of the night.
‘Shake! Shake!’, ‘Turnaround’, ‘My Heart Is Pumping to a Brand New Beat’ and ‘Girls & Boys’, are the definite highlights of tonight, with songs from 2011s Money & Celebrity misfiring slightly and receiving a more restrained response from the crowd.
People seem to enjoy the bland pop/rock that is on offer tonight; but it certainly isn’t a night that broke any molds.
The Subways are competent and perform their duties in a meticulous manner, however the material lets them down sounding anachronistic like a lot of bands borne out of the mid 2000 indie scene.
Words: Derek Robertson
Photos: Andy Mills
