Leave the Poet at Home

Thursday night Nik and I went to see the Subhumans at El Corazon. It took four times seeing them but they finally played “Ex-Teenage Rebel”, the song for which this blog is named. Woot. It was another great show, with a good mix of songs from all their albums. That day that had just gotten in the first 300 copies of their new record, “Internal Riot.” This is their first proper new LP in 21 years. Naturally I picked it up at the show and it does indeed rock. Good songs and clever lyrics totally in the spirit of the band’s original output.

My one gripe about the Subhumans US tours is that they always have this “punk poet” with them. Now I’ve got nothing against poets per se, but this guy (Mark something or other) is a menace. I think he wants to be the next Attila the Stockbroker, but his poems are for shit. By the numbers punk politics delivered in by the number rhyming couplets. It’s like listening to someone recite the lyrics of early MDC songs. What’s that, you’ve never heard MDC? Well, here’s a sample song from their first record called “Church and State.”

Nationalism in school
Perpetrating their rule
Lying textbooks rant
Their patriotic slant
“Your country’s great”
cry the church and state
“All that’ve died
Were on God’s side”

President and pope
Your pride and hope
Families build
Christian ethic instilled
The biblical truth?
Faith not proof!
Wield a sword
Walk with the lord
Be a man
Protect your land
Hear your call
Martyrs all

Your life’s lost
Nailed to a cross
Dead on foreign soil
For your God
(And their oil)

Now imagine 15 minutes of being beaten about the head by such “poetry” and you’ve got an idea of what sitting through his set is like. I will give him credit for performing through the abuse being heaped upon him by the audience, but please Subhmans, next time leave him at home.

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