The rainy little country of England has produced yet another solid rock group — The Subways.
The three-piece band is sassy, arrogant, attractive, youthful and just recorded its debut album "Young For Eternity" in Liverpool — the Beatles' old stomping ground. Who could ask for anything more?
"Young For Eternity" was released on Valentine's Day by the London-based band and sounds like a cross between early British pop jams by The Kinks — "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night" — and the sincere ditties of The White Stripes — "We're Going to be Friends" and "I Just Don't Know What to do With Myself."
It's garage rock with a bit of British spit and polish.
"Rock & Roll Queen" is the first single on the album and has been receiving heavy play around town on MSU's radio station — WDBM (88.9-FM), better known as the Impact. The Subways also performed the tune on an episode of "The O.C." on Nov. 17.
The song is actually one of the shallowest songs on the album, but still rocks out enough to wake the neighbors up. It's really catchy and so radio-friendly, which is probably why it's the first single.
The album opens with the song "I Want to Hear What You Have Got to Say" — a delicately touching confessional number building into hard-hitting jam. Billy Lunn — guitar/vocals — sings in a style reminiscent of Oasis' vocals for most of it while the lovely Charlotte Cooper — bass/vocals — sings one of the verses in a stubbornly raspy tone. Drummer Josh Morgan holds down the beat with piercing hits and well-timed fills.
Lunn and Morgan are actually brothers. Lunn changed his last name to match his mum's maiden name.
Throughout the whole album it's obvious Lunn and Morgan have a tight relationship because the guitar and drum parts are perfectly in sync. That's not to say Morgan isn't right on top of the rhythms with her bass parts. Overall, the group is just very musically tight.
Track 4, titled "Mary," is a great example of how the band works as one entity, rather than three separate artists.
The song dips between sympathetic verses and triumphant choruses with a nice little melodic solo in the midst of everything. And what would a British band be without referencing tea, which The Subways do in the opening two lines — "Mary is my best friend/She makes me my tea" — jolly good.
If The Subways perk your interest, you can watch them perform "Rock & Roll Queen" on the Late Show with David Letterman on Friday, March 3.
The band also will be performing in Detroit at the Magic Stick on Sunday, March 12. Look out for these Brits' racket because it's superb, straight forward rock with room only to be amplified on a larger scale.
