Not to be confused with the U.K. of the same name, Vancouver’s Subhumans were trailblazers for the country’s punk rock scene. Keeping in line with fellow hardcore punk icons, the band’s lineup underwent consistent changes for various reasons. However, the original core of the Subhumans comprised Gerry Hannah, Ken Montgomery, Brian Roy Goble, and Mike Graham. Subhumans experienced a few revivals and different iterations, with their final one being a series of shows performed in 2010 in support of their LP, Same Thoughts Different Day. These would prove to be the last Subhuman shows, with frontman Goble passing in 2014.
For this Golden Age Thursday, we remember the legacy of Goble and Subhumans by revisiting an electrifying performance from 1979. The same year the band released their breakthrough self-titled LP, Subhumans took over the legendary O’Hara’s in Vancouver. The footage captures the band’s tight yet frantic musicianship, Goble’s demanding and palpable stage presence, and the band’s poetically abstract songwriting. In this clip, we witness an early version of “Escalator to Hell,” which eventually was recorded in-studio for the band’s 2010 LP. The story behind the tune is fascinating and is detailed in a blog post on Subhuman’s official site, which can be found here: https://subhumans.ca/159/. Witness the full power of prime Subhuman below.
