Punk rock has definitely shaped my political and world view. These bands introduced me to ideologies outside of my family, my school and television. These ideas resonated with me as feelings I had but could not put into concise statements. A friend made me a mix tape in 1989 and it contained the song "religious wars" by the #subhumans . The song spit angry anti-religious lyrics over fast blurry punk. While nowadays that sort of thing is commonplace at that time in my life I devoured that vitriol. It became anthemic. The thick english accent sold it as worldly to me, that there were people who shared these thoughts across an ocean made me feel less small. This bands forays into reggae made them stand out to me and sounded extremely exotic, especially considering my heavy metal background.
I got to catch this band a few years ago and over 20 years after I first heard them. The played a small club here called the Mohawk Place. They sounded great and though we were all alot more paunchy than we were in the '80s it was a rare moment when catching an act that long after they meant so much to me actually lived up to the nostalgia. For a while I solely listened to this type of music, bands like the dead kennedys, MDC, minor threat and bad religion. Today I am as liberal as they come when it comes to politics. I love the idea of socialism blended into our flawed democracy. I take my kids to activist rallies and pride parades. I teach them to celebrate diversity and embrace empathy. All that stuff is in no small debt to the songs and lyric sheets I obsessed over. Listening to this cd again it actually renews my vigor and also startles me at how applicable this struggle still is over 30 years after it's release.
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