All Or Nothing

ヴォーカリスト/ギタリストのビリー・ランの声帯のポリープ手術を乗り越え、完全復活を果たした彼ら。リフューズド、デス・キャブ・フォー・キューティー、マクラスキー、シェラックらによる新鮮な影響が劇的なダイナミクスを引き起こし、『オール・オア・ナッシング』は『ヤング・フォー・エタニティー』同様の完成度の高さを保ちつつも音楽的に冒険的な前進をみる作品となった。「僕たちは、人として、精神面において、そして音楽的にも自分たちにチャレンジを課したんだ」とランは断言する。紅一点のベーシスト、シャーロット・クーパーの存在感も見逃せない!骨太とピュアネスを兼ね備えたロックンロールの原石=ザ・サブウェイズ、待望のセカンド・アルバムは、プロデューサーにブッチ・ヴィグ(ニルヴァーナ、ガービッジ他)を起用したロサンゼルス、レコーディング作品!

Spin (p.116) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "These youthful Brits shed some cuteness....Credit producer Butch Vig, too, who brings the trio closer to sonic Nirvana by coaxing out their snarls and then compressing and polishing them to maximum shininess." Alternative Press (p.161) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "The aptly titled 'Shake! Shake!' and the heavier, growling 'Turnaround' displays the group's skill for crafting feverous, driving rock songs that have some of the best guitar riffs this side of the Foo Fighters." Kerrang (Magazine) (p.63) - "ALL OR NOTHING is packed ripe with the kind of songs that sit comfortably and unselfconsciously between indie-pop and rock noise. Strong on melody and big on volume..." Q (Magazine) (p.143) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[S]o assured are producer Butch Vig's pop touch and Cooper's harmonies that these pop-punk nuggets sound as sunny as anything on their debut." Mojo (Publisher) (p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Buoyed with emotional heft and supernova guitar riffs, their second album is wired around a maturing songcraft and the studio savvy of grunge producer Butch Vig." Clash (Magazine) (p.123) - "The Subways have channeled every jarring emotion into an altogether more prolific [album]....Shot through with far more direction than their debut..."

Adhering to the age-old Brit-rock playbook that dictates your second album must be tailored to appeal to American audiences, the Subways recorded their second album All or Nothing in Los Angeles under the direction of producer Butch Vig, the man who helmed such '90s landmarks as Nirvana's Nevermind, L7's Bricks Are Heavy, and Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream before forming Garbage. Vig is an ideal choice for a trio so steeped in '90s alt-rock that they can't help but swipe titles from alt-rock hits of yesteryear: the album opens with "Girls & Boys" (just like Blur's 1994 hit), a couple of tracks later they get to "Alright" (just like Supergrass' 1995 single), and then get to "Turnaround" (Devo via Nirvana); they even unwittingly pay homage to the grunge-era Brad Pitt film with "Kalifornia." All this is appropriate, as Vig helps turn All or Nothing into a perfectly fine post-grunge album that could have easily come out in 1998 as 2008. The Subways' youthful exuberance has been harnessed, streamlined, and scrubbed, so there's not much kinetic energy but a whole lot of professional punch, which not only makes them sound just a little bit older than their years, but also has the effect of blunting whatever sorrow guitarist/vocalist Billy Lunn has channeled into his songs about breaking up with bassist Charlotte Cooper. A modern-day Rumours or Shoot Out the Lights, All or Nothing isn't, largely due to the glossy veneer Vig puts on the band -- something that is appealing on the surface, especially when the Subways have a good punk-pop song like "Kalifornia" or "Shake! Shake!" (or the very British Brit-pop of "Move to Newlyn"), but has the end effect of dulling both the emotional pull of Lunn's tunes and the Subways impact as a band. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

2005年のファースト・アルバムでリスナーから圧倒的な支持を得たUKの3人組が、ブッチ・ヴィグ（ニルヴァーナ、ソニック・ユース）をプロデューサーに迎えて約3年ぶりとなる2作目をリリース!　衝撃的なデビュー以降の過密スケジュールやフロントマンの病気などを乗り越え、より強い絆で結ばれた彼らが、ここではフィーダーを彷彿とさせる骨太でピュアでメロディアスなギター・ロックを炸裂させている。凄い!　　　　　　
bounce (C)白神 篤史