Charlie Harper & The Sub Machine – Panic / Post War Punks

It’s arguably a disservice to Charlie Harper to describe him as a ‘punk rock veteran’. Charlie was a fully-formed artist before the cultural big bang that gave life to the expression of his art that he’s best known for. With UK Subs he has been a mainstay of the old school first wave, and one of the hardest-working artists on the scene. The actual original punk OG. With that in mind, this non-Subs single release might be considered a self-indulgence. Originally planned as an audio complement to Charlie’s autobiography, An Anarchy Of Demons, the single’s release was deferred due to publishing delays to the point where it is now released on Time & Matter Records as a standalone digital single with the limited edition deluxe yellow vinyl now out for pre-order for an August release.

The single juxtaposes two sides of Charlie Harper. Panic is an impassioned plea for increased awareness of the planet’s climatic crisis, inspired by Greta Thunberg. It’s a heavy-duty rocker that plunges straight from a pretty piano intro into a full-on sledgehammering, full of drama and a sense of foreboding underscored by Charlie‘s impassioned vocal. The guitars chug and howl and the song weaves and dips, its melodic dynamism fuelled by some excellent bass work from The Ramona‘s Victoria Smith. Post War Punks is a more straightforward Subs-like stomper inspired by a friend’s dream about sandwiches. Yes, sandwiches. OK, it’s Charlie‘s light side, and probably not to be taken too seriously but you could very easily envisage a mosh pit of sweaty oiks singing along: “We’re post war punks/eating post punk sandwiches.” Yeah, I don’t know either. It works. It’s Charlie Harper. Even he admits it’s a ‘real surreal song’. Who are we to argue?

Recorded, produced, engineered and mixed at Brighton Road Recording Studios in Newtimber, West Sussex, the Sub Machine musicians comprise brothers Marlon and Bram Payne alongside Charlie‘s grandson Marley Perez. They have combined to create a very credible, if slightly off the wall addition to Charlie‘s canon. Well worth having, we say. Panic / Post War Punks is available for download now, with the vinyl single available on pre-order from Time & Matter Records