Talk about tried and true: Atlanta’s Subsonics have been on the garage-punk grind since the early ‘90s. There have been some quiet years, sure, but they seem to have bumped the pace up to a trot since playing the Mess-Around last year, playing several shows after, including the Drive Invasion earlier this month.
They’ve got a new full-length coming, too—their first in seven years. In the Black Spot will come courtesy of Slovenly Records, the international imprint responsible for the bulk of the band’s catalog.
“It took about a year to come out,” says drummer Buffi Aguero. “We recorded it in New York with our friend Matt [Verta-Ray] who plays with Heavy Trash and Speedball Baby and a couple bands like that. He has a studio up there that we really, really liked. We’ve recorded two or three of our records with him, but it’s been awhile since we did something with him. It was nice to play with him again, because he’s one of those rare people that you don’t even have to tell him, like he knows—he gets what we’re doing. It was super easy, you know?”
But the album debut isn’t the reason for the show. They’ve actually been playing new tunes for a little while now. So why hop on this bill?
“The real reason we’re playing this show is because of my friend Tina [Lucchesi] from Cyclops,” Aguero admits. “I’m a huge, huge, huge fan of hers. I just think she’s the coolest thing ever.”
In addition to drumming for the thrashy, nutty costume-sporting duo Cyclops, Lucchesi also fronts Midnite Snaxxx. Like Augero, she’s a seasoned player—she also fronted the Trashwomen and the Bobbyteens.
Aguero says the Subsonics will have a proper album release party in November. Nonetheless, the new tunes are worth scoping out right away.
“To me, it’s very off the cuff,” Aguero says of the album, “which I think is the best thing that we do.”
Listen to the new songs below, then check out the Subsonics, Cyclops, Ghost Bikini and El Fossil at 529 tonight.
SUBSONICS "In the Black Spot" LP by Subsonics
