After eight years away, Hertfordshire’s very own UK indie favourites are back.
Having formed in 2002, The Subways enter the third decade of their career with a catchy collection of twelve tunes that owe more to Brit pop than garage punk,
The band are Billy Lunn (guitar and vocals), Charlotte Cooper (bass and vocals) and Camille Phillips, formerly of The Romanas, who replaces original drummer Josh Morgan.
‘Uncertain Joys’ was recorded and produced by Lunn and the promise of more direct live sound is largely compromised in favour of studio-bound polish.
Things gets a bit edgier after the Black Lives Matter-inspired Fight which is, if you forgive the pun, much punchier. It contains the kind of dynamic energy lacking in the first half of the album.
All the tracks clock in at on or around the three minute mark except for the closing song ,Futures, which is stretched out to seven and a half minutes for no obvious reason.
Overall, the band seem undecided as to whether to settle for power pop or raw punk and mostly just end up in a sonic limbo land.