Worlds Apart＜限定盤/Red Vinyl＞

A grungy-looking quartet of punkers (check out the photos on the back cover of this album), Subhumans were a radical British punk group in the vein of the Clash and Conflict, though their sound was different in a couple of ways than both those acts. Like the Clash, Subhumans experimented with ska and reggae beats, but Subhumans' music was a bit more simplistic and their themes almost always straightforward. On Worlds Apart, Subhumans sing about "Apathy," "Businessmen," and "Heads of State," all objects of scorn for them. These weren't exactly risky targets to attack in the context of '80s British punk rock. Later, in the band Citizen Fish, who included a few members of Subhumans, singer/songwriter Dick refined his lyrics and wrote more thoughtful diatribes. But Subhumans were always pretty basic. Still, the music on Worlds Apart is relatively varied, heavy on the reverb, and it contains more than enough hooks. This is one of Subhumans' best efforts, but most of their music sounds more dated than other bands from that era. ~ Adam Bregman