Punk legends The Subhumans back in Reading – for only the second time in more than 40 years

A lot has changed in 40 years, but The Subhumans love of punk is just the same today just as it was back in 1985. 

Reading’s town centre was a very different place, admittedly. The Purple Turtle had yet to appear, and even the Boozy Blues Bar hadn’t appeared yet. The Top Rank Club was accessible via Friars Walk, and if you wanted the latest records or cassettes, you would head to Listen Records in the Butts Centre, or Music Market in Smelly Alley – one of the few pedestrianised bits of the town centre.

Of course, there was also an Our Price and HMV, plus WHSmith, the Co-op and Boots the Chemist for those who wanted their musical fix. 

This September, Subhumans will be making their first appearance on a Reading stage since they last appeared here four decades ago. 

Formed in 1980, the English anarchist punk collective were based in Wiltshire but toured the world, with success coming from their debut album The Day The Country Died. 

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The Subhumans Reading gig is being organised by Club Velocity, and will take place at The Face Bar on Thursday, September 25. Doors will open at 8pm. 

Tickets have already gone on sale at £14.30 including a booking fee. Support will come from Oxford-based duo BarrelHaus. Those aged 14-16 can attend, but will need to be accompanied by an adult. 

The Face Bar is in Ambrose Place, off Chatham Street and close to The Nags Head and The Butler pubs.

For more details, or to book, log on to: www.wegottickets.com/clubvelocity

Who are The Subhumans?

The Subhumans’ vocalist Dick Lucas started in The Mental. 

In 1980, he teamed up with guitarist Bruce Treasure and drummer Andy Gale to form The Superhumans, a moniker devised by Bruce’s mum. 

They were joined by former-Audio Torture bassist Grant Jackson. 

By the end of 1980, Gale left and Trotsky joined, and the group worked on their demo tape. 

This caught the attention of punk band Flux of Pink Indians, who offered Subhumans a record release on their Spiderleg Records label. 

In December 1981, their debut EP Demolition War was released, followed the following year by EPs Reasons for Existence and Religious Wars. 

The same year Subhumans formed their own label Bluurg Records, which focused on cassette recordings. 

In 1983, The Subhumans returned to Spiderleg Records, and issued their debut studio album The Day The Country Died. 

Now considered a classic and quintessential release of the anarcho-punk genre, the record has its thematic roots in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, epitomised on the single Big Brother.

Marking the band’s first solo release on their label Bluurg, The Subhumans released the EP Evolution in 1983. 

The full-length From the Cradle to the Grave and EP Time Flies… but Aeroplanes Crash, featuring both live and studio tracks, were next to be released. 

Their third full-length album, Worlds Apart, came in 1985 – the same year as their last visit to Reading. 

But it was also The Subhumans’ final year. Citing differences in musical direction, they decided to go their separate ways – but not before they released 29:29 Split Vision, which showcased The Subhumans’ more melodic, sung aesthetic.

Following their demise, The Subhumans went on to different projects, with Dick Lucas joining Culture Shock in 1986 and forming the ska-punk outfit Citizen Fish in 1990. 

The Subhumans enjoyed a brief reunion in 1990, before taking part in a fully-fledged reunion tour of the United States and the UK in 1998. 

The same year, The Subhumans released an EP of previously unreleased recordings entitled Unfinished Business, and a new live album Live in a Dive on Fat Wreck Chords. 

The band’s fifth studio album Internal Riot arrived in 2007, followed by a tour of Europe and the United States. 

Now, they are back on the road again, and Reading will be one of three dates this September: they will also be at the Undercover Festival in Essex  and at the New Cross Inn in London. 

They will then go back on tour in January, making this a rare chance to see one of punk’s pioneers.