The Subways are a band. They're not quite as good as the actual mass transportation system, but somewhat better than the sandwiches. As a band, they are very British. If that sort of thing appeals to you, well guv'nor, lock up the flat, step into the lift, and hit Ye Olde Record Shoppe post-haste. If you're indifferent, well, fiddlesticks, I don't know what to tell you.

When you can lump a decade-and-change of a nation's music into a single genre, you know you're in trouble.

But the Britpop The Charlatans UK and The La's did so well in the early '90s is exactly what The Subways (and Starsailor, and Delays, and a lot of other bands that don't make much splash over here in the colonies) are doing now. They're pretty good at it -- better than Starsailor, anyway -- but they're not doing a whole lot to help Britpop evolve. Doesn't bother you? Well, chap, here's your new jam.

Roughly half of Young for Eternity, The Subways' debut, sounds like Oasis outtakes.

The rest are Blur-style stompers. They've rather effectively ripped off two of England's most beloved bands. Plus, homeboy's not a real good singer, and rhymes some permutation of "the sun" and "the one" in two separate tracks, which renders "Rubber Ducky (You're The One)" high poetry. Still, Young for Eternity is catchy in all the right places.

And so, yet again, we are confronted with a dilemma. Should you, Mr. or Mrs. Anglophile, buy Young for Eternity? Sure; it's right up your alley. Should the general music-buying populace buy Young for Eternity? No; at least, not unless your copy of Definitely Maybe is broken.

Grade: C

--Reviewed by Paul Thompson