Reviewed by: Jick
I’m going to be honest here; The Subhumans are my fall back answer for when someone asks me what my favorite band is. Even more honest, I’ve absolutely hated every single Subhumans recording I’ve ever heard until I listened to it about 4 times. This is my fourth spin through their first release as the Subhumans in over 20 years (if you don’t count Unfinished Business) , and I’m going to have to say I’m only just a little disappointed, but not much. The Subhumans seem to be suffering from some of the similar problems of older bands reforming and releasing a new album. The majority of the tracks are a little more down-tempo and less aggressive, and lack that variety which made Time Flies and Rats just so damn great. I also feel like we’re missing those stand-out tracks that most Subhumans releases tend to have. Think “Religious Wars,” “Subvert City,” or “No.” “Culture Addict” and “This Is Not An Advert” might be the closest tracks to it, but they lack that anthemic feel. As might have been expected, this whole CD feels a lot more like a Citizen Fish CD without the ska influence than a full-blown Subhumans release (except “Too Fat, Too Thin,” perhaps). That said, they do seem to be picking up where they would have left off if Culture Shock and Citizen Fish had never happened. If I had to, I would probably compare Internal Riot to Worlds Apart. If you like late Subhumans and Citizen Fish stuff, then pick this one up, but if you don’t own their older material, I really have to recommend you get that first. |
