Discharge, GBH, and Subhumans

In opposition to Thatcher’s indulgence of the middle and upper classes, punk metal band GBH arrived in 1978 to voice their concerns and launch their assault on injustice. Adorned in black leather, dyed-blonde mohicans, and an appropriate punk attitude, the band released a pair of demos in 1980 before embarking on their first overseas tour in the early 1980s. GBH’s debut release “City Baby Attacked By Rats” arrived in 1982 offering a no-holds-barred critique of British and European culture. Featuring an assaultive sound of guitar, drums and bass played loud, fast and furiously, the band became pioneers of street punk or UK82 alongside The Exploited, Picture Frame Seduction, and Discharge.

Also in 1982 GBH issued the EPs “No Survivors”, “Sick Boy”, and “Give Me Fire / Man Trap” on Clay Records, which were compiled into a compilation album later that year. The full-length “City Babys Revenge” followed in 1983 earning positive reviews and cementing the group’s reputation as a hard-hitting and politically-focused quartet. A string of studio albums were subsequently released in the ‘80s including 1986’s “Midnight Madness And Beyond”, 1987’s “No Need to Panic”, and 1989’s “A Fridge Too Far”, as well as the EPs “Catch 23 / Hellhole”, “Do What You Do”, “Oh No. It’s GBH Again”, and “Wot a Bargain”. Unlike many of their peers GBH were able to maintain their devoted following by rarely diverging from their street punk sound and style, however adopted speed metal influences on their 1992 album “Church of the Truly Warped”.

The 1996 album “Punk Junkies” followed in 1996, after which GBH enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence in popularity, after fading from view in the early ‘90s. The band’s ninth studio album “Ha Ha” was released in 2002 and was supported by an extensive international world tour like many of its predecessors and drawing huge crowds in doing so. The studio album “Cruel and Unusual” arrived in 2004 on Idol Records, followed by “Perfume and Piss” in 2010.

Prior to the formation of Subhumans in 1980, vocalist Dick Lucas had played in the local band, The Mental. Lucas was then joined by guitarist Bruce Treasure and drummer Andy Gale, before former-Audio Torture bassist Grant Jackson joined the fold. Initially performing under the moniker Superhumans at the request of Bruce’s mother, by the end of 1980 Subhumans was cemented with Trotsky replacing Gale on drums. In 1981 the band issued a debut demo tape which caught the attention of punk band Flux of Pink Indians, who offered Subhumans a record release on their Spiderleg Records label. That record surfaced in December 1981 as the EP “Demolition War”.

Whilst failing to significantly raise the band’s profile, the record led to the subsequent EPs “Reasons for Existence” and “Religious Wars” in 1982. The same year Subhumans formed their own label Bluurg Records, which focused on cassette recordings. In 1983, once again released on Spiderleg Records, Subhuman issued their debut, studio album “The Day The Country Died”. Now considered a classic and quintessential release of the anarcho-punk genre, the record has its thematic roots in George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, epitomised on the single “Big Brother”.

Marking the band’s first solo release on their label Bluurg, Subhuman’s subsequently released the EP “Evolution” in 1983. The full-length “From the Cradle to the Grave” followed the same year, as did the EP “Time Flies… but Aeroplanes Crash”, featuring both live and studio tracks. Following the release of their third full-length “Worlds Apart” in 1985, the band split citing differences in musical direction. Far-removed from the band’s initial hardcore recordings, the band’s final release “29:29 Split Vision”, showcases Subhumans’ more melodic, sung aesthetic.

Dick Lucas went on to join Culture Shock in 1986 and subsequently form the ska-punk outfit Citizen Fish in 1990. A brief Subhumans reunion occurred in 1990, before a fully-fledged reunion tour in 1998 of the UK and U.S. In 1998 the band release an EP of previously unreleased recordings “Unfinished Business”, before issuing the live album “Live in a Dive” on Fat Wreck Chords. The band’s fifth studio album “Internal Riot” arrived in 2007, followed by a tour of Europe and the U.S.