Fired-up Subways deliver a scorcher at Spaceland

On Tuesday night, the Subways marked the completion of studio sessions for their sophomore album rather ceremoniously -- the last note was played when drummer Josh Morgan banged a gong that was set afire.

On Wednesday, the British trio brought some heat of its own, delivering a blistering 10-song set to an appreciative Club NME crowd at Spaceland that included, among others, their producer for the yet-untitled album, Butch Vig. The night was capped by their memorable single "Rock and Roll Queen" and pretty much extinguished any doubts that the precocious punkers could be major players.

Singer-guitarist Billy Lunn -- the problems that required January surgery to remove vocal nodes now behind him -- confessed to the crowd that he, Morgan and bassist Charlotte Cooper were nervous, not having played live in months. But his manner, part cocksure smile and part sneer, indicated otherwise. New songs "Kalifornia," "Turnaround," "Girls and Boys" and "I Won't Let You Down" fit into the set seamlessly with six numbers from the band's 2006 debut, "Young for Eternity."

"There are times I look at Billy and think, 'What the [heck] are you doing to your voice?' " Cooper said afterward.

"My voice is as good as ever now," Lunn said. "There were some points when we were making the record when I wanted to get back in the vocal booth ... I told Butch, 'No, I do that better,' or 'I can scream louder there.' " As for the six weeks in L.A. working with Vig, Lunn said, "He was so much more than a producer. He's just the coolest [guy] on the planet -- I don't know if it's his temperament or what, but we were like sponges, always wanting to learn."

Tentative plans are for the album to be out in March on Warner.

Photos by Kevin Bronson / LAT.