SUB SOCIETY : OFFICIAL

Before the skateboard shop and before the EDM promoter there was Sub Society, a four-piece Punk / Skate Rock band from San Diego, California made non-famous world-wide in the late '80s and early 1990s thanks to songs in popular skateboard and snowboard videos.

The band held a strong local following due to constantly playing live and selling thousands of independetly realeased 7" records, Iceman ('90) and Relaxin' ('91).

Sub Society was Stimy on vocals (Inch, Congress of the Cow, Lakeside Orchestra, Harvey Knuckles), Chris Valle on guitar (Gangbusters), Didier on drums (9,000 Lbs, Furious IV) and Hesh One on bass. Prior members include Mitch Wilson (No Knife) and Tommy Barnes on guitar and Petey X (Rocket From The Crypt) on bass.

Listen to the songs and you can hear high school student Stimy's introspective lyrics and note the change in the band's sound as Chris and I morphed it from pure punk to something more metal and melodic over the years. Didier's atypical approach to drums further defined the band's sound.

The bands raw demo, No Legs To Stand On, landed five songs in H-Street's influential Hokus Pokus ('90) video including "Rockstar" during the Tony Magnussen segment and "A Lot Less" during the Matt Hensley segment. Inclusion in Hokus Pokus was a really good accomplisihment for four teenagers who practiced in the drummer's parent's garage.

"A Lot Less" was later covered by Millencolin on "The Melancholy Collection" and "Skauch", both on Epitaph Records. (Hey, guys, where are the royalties!?)

Other video credits include H-Street's Not The New H-Street Video ('91) and Next Generation ('92) as well as Life's A Beach's Skaters From Uranus II ('91) and Mack Dawg's New Kids On The Twock ('90), Pocahontas ('91) and Decade ('98).

Sub Society tracks on CD compilations include "1,000 Yard Stare" on Thrasher Magazine's Explicit Sk8 Rok Volume 10 ('91), Palomar College's Immolation ('92) as well as "greatest hits" compilations by H-Street and Mack Dawg released in the late '90s.

Sub Society performed with a lot of great bands including 7 Seconds, All, Amenity, Big Drill Car, Chemical People, Daddy Longleggs, The Descendents, The Doughboys, Forced Down, G.B.H., House Of Suffering, Inside Out, Jawbreaker, Mr. Bungle, Olivelawn, Pitchfork, Rocket From The Crypt, Rollins Band, Samiam, Seaweed, Sprung Monkey, Unwritten Law and Victim's Family.

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Michael "Stimy" Steinman: 1972-2010
Chris Didier, H1 and the extentended Sub Society family lost Stimy too soon on December 30, 2010.

 

SUB SOCIETY : MP3s

NO LEGS TO STAND ON
1989 : Demo Tape

Side A
Drive Drunk
United Appeal
A Lot Less
Hard Corey
Merk Side End

Side B
Arabian Death Groove
To The Point Of Relative Inaccessibility
Society's Dropout
Rockstar
Non-Merk Side End

Bonus
Strength
Way I Am
Guilty 'til Proven Rich
It's A Steal (feat. Hard Corey)
Happy Meal
None Of The Above
Brian's Song
Band Guys / Endtroduction

Recorded live "on air" at KSDT, UCSD

 

ICEMAN
1990 : 7" Vinyl : JFS Productions

Side A
Daily Seconds
At Last

Side B
Everyday
A Lot Less

 

RELAXIN'
1991 : 7" Vinyl : Vinyl Communications

Side A
1,000 Yard Stare
The Isolator

Side B
Relaxin'
Cheese Food

Bonus
Sleep Walking
Squeaky Wheel

 

EXPLICIT SK8ROK VOL. 10
1991 : CD : Thrasher Magazine

9) 1,000 Yard Stare

 

IMMOLATION
1992 : CD: Palomar College

9) My Brother's Friend
10) Boat Ride

 

ANTHOLOGY: 1989-1992
2010 : Digital Download

UCSD TRITON PUB
1990 : From VHS
United Appeal (Live)

DOUBLETIME SESSIONS
1992 : Previously Unreleased
Way Down
Snuggle
Toolbox
Cat/Bear
Keep Movin'
Harshin'
F