What’s Going On: New Subsonics 7-Inch

We haven’t even begun to consider pulling Subsonics’ latest album Flesh Colored Paint off the turntable, yet our favorite grubby insubordinates aren’t taking a breath. Late this month, Baltimore’s Hidden Volume Records will gift us a newly pressed 7-inch of the Subsonics tearing into a pair of cool, obscure old cover songs.

Side A is a reconstruction of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s 1969 song “He’s a Keeper of the Fire,” with Sam Leyja (Tiger! Tiger!) guesting on organ. The flip is even more off-the-beaten-path: “You Don’t Know What’s Going On” by Bahamian musician Exuma (aka Tony McKay), a fringe artist throughout the ’70s and ’80s. Look him up. I’ve seen the Subsonics do their version at live gigs, and it’s bare and powerful.

So, you should definitely get your paws on one of these, and the best way to do that is through the label’s pre-sale, which launches at noon ET on Friday, July 6th. A hundred copies come on transparent “beer” vinyl (thumbs up on that one, gang), with another 200 on the usual ol’ black vinyl. Official street date is July 27th.