When one thinks of Fresno, CA punk bands certainly aren't the first thing to come to mind. This sleepy city located inland and about the halfway point between Los Angeles and San Francisco became a hot spot for 60s rock bands to stop through which carried over into the 1970s, when the wave of hard rock washed over the town, resulting in numerous bootleg LPs from AC/DC, Van Halen and more. Fast forward to the appearances of "punk" across American pop culture (DEVO on SNL, Sex Pistols US tour, Ramones planting seeds everywhere) and you've got bands springing up around every corner, Fresno included. And even on the first Maximum Rocknroll LP compilation, Not So Quiet On the Western Front, three Fresno bands made their debut appearances, Maniax, Nazi Bitch & the Jews and the Frigidettes, but little was known about the bands that predated those, until now.
The Subtractions were the brightest-sounding pure punk band of the bunch, and although stacked with a lively gig schedule, complete with a sold out support slot for the Dead Kennedys, they sadly never left their recorded mark on the world in their original inception, but luckily they DID have the good notion to make a studio recording in 1980 before they went their separate ways, and finally seeing the light of day this Summer is the "lost" debut 7" EP entitled It's Exposed on HoZac Archival Records.
You can read the full Subtractions story in the upcoming issue #4 of the excellent Savage Damage Digest (and grab back issues HERE) but in the meantime, check out this mini-documentary on the late 70s Fresno scene spotlighting The Subtractions and get ready for their aggressively inspirational Dangerhouse-soaked punk debut EP thirty-five years later.
