Subhumans Alert!

Hey! Check it out, the Subhumans' new album -- the Vancouver Subhumans -- comes out this week! (In theory, anyway!). I'm workin' on an article on the band -- don't exactly know where it's gonna end up yet, but it's some pretty interesting stuff, and so I thought I'd share a bit that I don't think I'm gonna use anywhere else... Something that came up in passing was how plugged in individual members of the band were to contemporary popular culture and the information age. Turns out that Brian doesn't have a computer or cable (tho' he does watch DVDs -- I mean, the guy has KIDS, he can't completely unplug). I don't quite recall what the state of Gerry "Nature Punk" Hannah's technology is at, but I'm pretty sure he said he doesn't have a TV, tho' he does have a computer... Mike Graham and I got talkin' about all this, relating to his terrific new song, "Celebrity:"

Me: Do you own a TV? Do you follow pop culture?

Mike Graham: How can you not follow pop culture?

Me: I dunno, I get the impression that Gerry kinda steers clear of that stuff.

Mike Graham: I think he watches TV. He’s probably just telling you that... but he’s certainly more disgusted with it than I am!

I thought that was a fun little moment... Actually, it reminds me of eavesdropping on Hannah chatting at a party with a lesbian couple about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was one of the more entertaining bits of eavesdropping I've done. It suggests that Graham may just be right...

And speaking of popular culture: since the whole band is touring across Canada really soon, I couldn't resist asking them if they had seen Hard Core Logo. The only member who has -- scoring a point on the big chalkboard I keep in my room -- is Mike Graham ("oh, yeah, that was a great movie!"). Joe Dick rides with you in spirit, boys. You may not want him, but there he is...

By the way, the new material sounds great. My favourite song of those I've heard is Hannah's
"I Got Religion," which we will be going into in the interview if and when it gets published. Check out the lyrics here -- it should win an award for the number of birds wounded with one stone, and the tune is as catchy and danceable a punk number as you can get while being totally true to its roots. All the songs I've heard manage to sound fresh and old school at the same time, like these guys were cryogenically frozen in the early 80's and thawed out just now; the new and old material blended in seamlessly at the Brickyard gig last year, and I get the feeling that it's gonna be a great album. By the way, if you click the first link on this page, you can access an MP3 of another of Hannah's compositions for the new album, "World at War." The band plays the Lamplighter on October 13th... See you there!