The Basement Tapes

It’s appropriate that John Peel – who famously led the campaign on behalf of The Undertones' ‘Teenage Kicks’ – was championing The Subways shortly before he died. The teenage three-piece from Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire had won the new bands competition at Glastonbury in 2004, and when Peel heard their first single ‘1am’ later that year, he too was sold on The Subways.

“We never got to meet him,” rues bassist Charlotte Cooper, “but he really pushed ‘1am’ and gave us a lot of support, so we were always very grateful for that.”
It’s easy to understand what Peel saw in the band. The Subways have an immediacy and an energy that makes them a relief in a time of pretentious art-school twattery.
Underpinned by a subtle pop aesthetic, their songs roar by with jabs of abrasive guitar and shouty vocals that suddenly dissipate into the ether. The Killers they are not, and they are happy to avoid being lumped in with any of the current trend-hoppers.
“There’s this whole ‘80s rehash thing happening now,” says Cooper, a mild note of repugnance in her voice, “but if you get into a scene, you get stuck as the sound of 2004 or 2005 or something like that… We want to be in this for the long-term.”
The band’s debut, Young For Eternity, is a persuasive belter of an album. Produced by (former Lightening Seed) Ian Broudie, it captures splendidly the sprightly attitude and channelled aggression of the band’s live sets.
Which is no mean feat – this is a group who boil with kinetic energy when onstage. Of course, they do have an interesting dynamic at the heart of the band. Guitarist and frontman Billy Lunn is Cooper’s long-time boyfriend (they’ve been going out since she was 13). Meanwhile, Lunn’s brother Josh is on drums.
Cooper says it makes for some “interesting” touring, but that the closeness of their relationships also has its benefits.
“When we are writing music together, it’s very easy,” she says. “We can read each other, and tell what we want in each other’s parts. It works very well when we’re sitting down and getting the basics of a song together.”

Young For Eternity is out on July 1.