The Subjects - With the Ease of Human Beings
Reviewed by mike
Anything ever written about The Subjects will probably include something about their back-story. This review is no different. Originating in a New York high school isn’t anything special, but when two of the band members were teachers and the other two were students at the school, that’s pretty uncommon. Their debut record, the academically titled With the Ease, Grace, Precision and Cleverness of Human Beings, is a collection of ragged rock songs nodding to The Kinks and The Velvet Underground, sounding more like the former than the latter. The Subjects are at their best when they add touches of psychedelic guitar to the mix, as in the driving, well-crafted “Icicles” or the train-wreck finale, “Melody.” This album took a few listens to grow on me (mostly due to Dave Sheinkopf’s David Byrne-on-helium voice), but I found it to be a good headphones record that improves and gains energy with each track. [www.gosubjectsgo.net]