It’s been over ten years since The Subways released their debut album, and since their birth they have been gracing crowds across the globe with their hard-hitting, characteristic rock ‘n’ roll, with every album produced holding feelings of celebration and the urge to have a good time. Thankfully their latest effort is no exception.

The album begins with that typical adrenaline filled, “feel-good” factor that is found throughout most of the Subways’ tracks – it’s always good to see that this aspect of the music is still living strong. Opening track ‘My Heart Is Pumping To A Brand New Beat’, leaves the listener feeling the full throttle of the song, with its relentless attitude and perfectly executed choruses, with the attitude continuing strongly into the second track, ‘I’m In Love And It’s Burning In My Soul’, with harsh chords and gritty lyrics, followed by the thunderous beat of the drums. Although it’s only two tracks in, it’s evident the self-titled album holds a punch, and a weighty one at that.

The album continues to be filled with heart and character, shown by following tracks such as ‘Dirty Muddy Paws’, which holds beautifully performed collaborations between frontman Billy Lunn and beloved Bassist Charlotte Cooper, and ‘Good Times’, which definitely seems to signify Lunn’s current state of feeling. Having said that, the album altogether has a much more content feel to it, seeming to theoretically represent the synergy in the life of frontman Lunn at this moment in time. Following his recent decision to become stone-cold sober and endeavour on academic pursuits, Lunn appears to be in a much better place, gleaming from what we can see on both social media and through his music.

The already mentioned monumental debut from the Subways, Young For Eternity, which was a huge success, possessed some of the band’s most treasured songs, such as ‘Oh Yeah’, ‘Mary’, ‘Young For Eternity’ and of course, ‘Rock & Roll Queen. Since then, The Subways have extended their arsenal through the release of another two albums before the self-titled one, introducing tracks such as ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘We Don’t Need Money To Have A Good Time’ and ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’. These already mentioned tracks, combined with many from the self-titled album, will ultimately create a greatly appreciated live arsenal of tracks for the devoted fans of the band.

As the album steers towards its end with ‘Black Letter’, a track filled with groovy riffs and screaming vocals in the choruses, which are contrastingly matched with smooth harmonies from Charlotte. The equally fast-paced ‘Twisted Game’ follows, channelling the screaming vocals into the verses as well as the choruses, leading to an action packed finale to the album. The track screams at the listener “wake up it’s a god-damn twisted game”, leaving you to consider what it is that’s being sung about: Life? Society? Or maybe it’s leaving the listener to create their own scenario, nobody’s content with everything are they?

The album then does draw to a close with the final track which poses the question ‘Is That Enough?’, and, when looking at this album – indeed, it’s more than enough. The album is as good as ever, and a huge hats off to Billy Lunn for his recent personal transitions, which hasn’t affected the music in any negative ways whatsoever. The whole lot of them just appear to be having fun creating the music they are doing, and that ultimately shows in the album – a solid effort indeed, and a highly ranked one in the efforts of the Subways so far.

The Subways is out now via Cooking Vinyl Limited.

James Cummins

@CummyBear