U.K. Subs - Time Warp... Greatest Hits
CD review by Robby Karol
I ordered this because of the fact that I enjoyed Nicky Garratt's self-effacing band history on the New Red Archive web site along with his musical taste. When "Time Warp" arrived, I originally thought that it was poorly mixed. You couldn't hear Charlie Harper's vocals well, and the songs blurred into each other. However, after a few weeks of listening, I figured out the problem was that I hadn't listened to it as carefully as it deserved. So I found some time to listen to it and was really surprised.
"New York State Police" is just a funny account of police brutality, "Tomorrow's Girls" channels a sort of trashy, New York Dolls vibe, and "Countdown" is a slow, Sabbath-like grinding dirge.
But, it was the songs "Down on the Farm","Party in Paris" and "Limo Life" that I find myself coming back to again and again. All three are sad, depressing anthems of rejection and alienation. "Party in Paris" is about a lonely Englishman getting drunk and listening to music in Paris, while wishing he was back in England with his friends. Even when the oo-la-la chorus sounds cheerful, Charlie's growling bluesy vocals impart the depression.
"Down on the Farm"(which Guns 'N' Roses later covered) kicks off with Harper talking about how he "needs some inspiration before I do somebody some harm." As the song continues, the vaguely defined "farm" begins to take shape as a combined re-education camp/mental hospital. The pounding drums, and the whining guitars impart an urgency that gives the song life.
And finally, the brilliant "Limo Life", which is in the same vein as Iggy Pop's "The Passenger", is a slow, death crawl through the streets of London at night, as Harper, Garratt and Company start to disconnect from the world around them. By the time you reach Charlie howling that "All I need is a little bit of action.", you'll realize that the corporate nature of rock 'n roll has imprisoned them as much as "Down on the Farm"'s protagonist.