Young For Eternity - Subways (The)

The Subways are one of the current crop of decent bands to be produced by the British music scene, which seems to be particularly buoyant in recent years. They were actually discovered by Glastonbury organizer Michael Eavis who plucked their demo tape out of a huge pile and stuck them on stage at Glastonbury in 2004. It was the chance the band were looking for and they took it with both hands and since then things have certainly moved forward.
...Lead singer and lead guitarist Billy Lunn has his brother Josh on drums and girlfriend/fiancée Mary-Charlotte Cooper on Bass. In fact recently the two renewed their engagement infront of a number of fans at a gig in the lead up to Reading festival. As a close group they have been travelling a lot and playing gigs to try and make a name for themselves before the release of this, the bands debut album during the summer.

Teaming up with ... more

The Subways are one of the current crop of decent bands to be produced by the British music scene, which seems to be particularly buoyant in recent years. They were actually discovered by Glastonbury organizer Michael Eavis who plucked their demo tape out of a huge pile and stuck them on stage at Glastonbury in 2004. It was the chance the band were looking for and they took it with both hands and since then things have certainly moved forward.

They are quite a close knit band. Lead singer and lead guitarist Billy Lunn has his brother Josh on drums and girlfriend/fiancée Mary-Charlotte Cooper on Bass. In fact recently the two renewed their engagement infront of a number of fans at a gig in the lead up to Reading festival. As a close group they have been travelling a lot and playing gigs to try and make a name for themselves before the release of this, the bands debut album during the summer.

Teaming up with Ian Broudie, the producer behind The Coral and The Zutons, appears to have been a good idea. Broudie has quickly established himself as a capable producer during his work with the aforementioned bands. It would seem he attracts bands using The before there names but like The Coral and The Zutons it would appear that The Subways are destined for great things. In fact for me this has got to be a contender for the album of the year as it boasts quite a fresh approach that not many bands seem to have at the moment.

The band seem to have adopted a number of influences within their debut effort. There are parts of the album that contain the same raw energy of Nirvana and there are others that could almost pass as being songs by The White Stripes. The combination of both influences seems to have set the band fresh from school on there way to Indie/rock stardom. Of course as a band fresh out of school only a couple of years ago there is also a homage to Oasis. In "Mary", Lunn shows through the track his admiration for Oasis style and attempts to make an Oasis like track of his own.

Although the bands style takes its influences from the likes of Nirvana, it is fair to say that they have also crafted their own style. Each track seems to alternate between a much faster tempo and a mellower sound with relative ease. The fact that The Subways have gone down a different route from the likes of The Kaiser Chiefs mean they do stand out. Lunn's terrific riffs with the guitar are complimented superbly by girlfriend Cooper's bass lines and it makes their music incredibly easy to get into. Coupled with that is a solid drumbeat from his brother and the Subways make decent music that makes it incredibly easy to lose yourself within.

Likewise I really feel that Cooper's vocals compliment Lunn's as much as their musical ability. Lunn takes on the majority of the vocals and he seems to have a great range to his voice. It is complimented perfectly by Cooper's voice though as she provides backing vocals on certain tracks. The combination is also part of the reason in my opinion why the album sounds so different to other bands around at the moment and the reason it has become one of my favourite albums.

It is an album that is packed full of decent tracks. In fact Lunn seems to have done an excellent job in writing this album. Each track is quite easy going and seem to flow along quite nicely. I don't think there is a single track I don't like on the album and although a few took a few listens to get into it was incredibly easy to get into the album to start with.

My favourite track of the lot is probably the albums title track "Young For Eternity". From the outset of the track it is quite fast paced. The guitars and drums provide a decent pace and once Lunn's vocals do come in it is a cleverly crafted song. It was probably the first track I'd heard by the band a few months before the release of the debut album and it was for that reason I decided I had to get a hold of a copy when it came out.

Overall this is an incredibly accomplished debut album from The Subways. It has a little bit of everything about it and luckily it's a little more unique that most other albums around at the moment. They do come across as a love them or hate them kind of band, but if you liked the recent singles "Rock & Roll Queen" and "Oh Yeah" then the album certainly wont disappoint. The band apparently have better still to come, which means the follow up will certainly be worth getting but in the mean time I thoroughly recommend you go and buy this album.

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