We’ll have to head back to the ‘80s for this pick. The Fastbacks is a band I only got into quite recently. Our story starts in Seattle, Washington. Way before Nirvana. It was rock ‘n’ roll royalty; the kings of Queens, the Ramones and England’s true Queen, Queen, that inspired Kurt Bloch and Kim Warnick, who had been playing guitar since high school, and Lulu Gargiulu, who had played classical guitar since childhood, but not rock music. The latter being a fan of ‘60s music along with Warnick and Warnick and Bloch bonding on ‘70s rock. Bloch took on the job as drummer, Gargilulu the guitar, and Warnick the bass. Shannon Wood joined the band as a singer only to quit the same year the band was started, in 1979. Warnick then became the lead singer and Bloch the guitarist. The band has had several drummers, including GnR guitarist Duff McKagen. Their first single was “It’s Your Birthday” b/w “You Can’t Be Happy” in 1981. They put out their first album as late as 1987. The second album was Very, Very Powerful Motor in 1990. They signed to SubPop with a compilation in 1992 and the album Zücker in 1993. Followed it up in 1994, with Answer the Phone, Dummy, a title I, as a telephobe, find offensive! In the late ‘90s, they gave us New Mansions in Sound (1996) and The Day didn’t Exist (1999). In 2001, the band broke up and Warnick started Visqueen, and later Cali Giraffes. Bloch has also had a career in music production, producing Presidents of the United States of America and Sicko. He also played in bands like the Beltholes, Yes Masters and Filthy Friends (with among others Peter Buck and Corin Tucker). The Beltholes, being a prog band doesn’t seem too appealing to me, but I’ll give them thumbs up for their album name For Whom the Beltholes.

According to our very reliable source Google, …And His Orchestra, this amazing debut, which is the album you’re reading about (in case you wondered), was released on June 15, 1987 on PopLLama. It was recorded and mixed at Egg Studios in Seattle. The cover art is cartoonish and fitting to the album, picturing the band as the conductors with Hannah Barbera-esque animals playing the instruments. The art was done by Jim Brickell. All of the original songs were written by Kurt Bloch. The line up on this album was Kim Warnick on bass and vocals, Kurt Bloch on guitar, Lulu Gargiulo on guitar and vocals, and Richard Stuverud on drums. The album was produced by Bloch and Egg owner Conrad Uno, they went under the names Mister Bloch and Mister Uno.

1. “Seven Days”:

Lyrically, the song considers how much damage a week can really do. But also how you can recover in the same amount of time. “Seven days ago, I lost my mind/ Seven more days spent to rewind/ Then I saw what I never had discovered/ Days gone by that can never be recovered/ Lost for seven days, now they’re lost forever now”. Musically, it sounds almost inspired by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with its heavy guitars, something that almost conflicts with the catchy melody. You almost get the feeling that it’s an instant classic the moment you hear it. From the poppy melody to the heavy guitars and wonky soloing and raw production. Elements that in theory might not be compatible, but in practice sound awesome.

2. “Light’s on You”:

The transition from “Seven Days” to “Light’s on You” is perfect. The latter is definitely the slower song even if the heavy guitars are still present. There’s just something incredibly catchy about these songs that is hard to explain. I like how the drums almost makes you feel like you’re gonna hear “Be My Baby”, but you don’t. The song eloquently describes that little voice in your head telling you you’re not happy. “I’ve been on the Earth for twenty-nine years/ And haven’t found what to do with my life”. The chorus gives you a chance to tell people the story of your life, now the light is on you.

3. “If You Tried”:

The intro is more straight up pop punk. Sometimes it actually sounds like Bloch is making mistakes on the guitar, but I feel like it’s planned to sound that way, and I love it. The guitar solos are so beautiful and melodic, and the curiosities make it even better. The lyrics also have this wholesome positive aspect to it behind a sort of apathetic and sad blanket with the message that you can go far if you just try, but sometimes trying is the hardest, one might say.

4. “Don’t Cry for Me”:

The intro sounds very early ‘60s pop with surf influence and a melody reminiscent of “Love Potion nr. 9”. I love that out of the four first songs, every song is very different sounding but manages to sound very distinctly Fastbacks at the same time. From the poppy melody to the weird surf outro. Lyrically, the song continues in the whole finding the best in a shitty situation theme. And these lines are so relatable: “Sun comes up on a brand new morning/ The night I spent just downtown walking/ The night won’t end/ I’m my only friend/ Now the nighttime wraps its heavy arms around me”

5. “In the Winter”:

The intro here is simply beautiful, adding a new thing the Fastbacks can do. All in all, I would call this a twee song. Resembling a style the Queers and Cub would do ten years later. Pretty as the music is, the positivity from the earlier songs is gone. This is all gloom, basically. The character has sunk into nihilism and nothing really matters. The cold winter is used as a metaphor for the character’s state of mind. The sun never shows till the end of the winter.

6. “Wrong, Wrong, Wrong”:

The sixth track is the absolute highlight of the album for me. The drum intro almost sounds like “Ballroom Blitz” is about to start, but what you’re about to hear is much better. You might not have escaped the Sweet though. As a contrarian, I feel close to the lyrical matter as well. I feel like the song is pointing the fingers at people who are always right and celebrates the feeling of telling them they are actually wrong. There’s an awesome saxophone in the song that makes the song sound even more like a hit. Tom Vail plays the saxophone. Darrow Hunt plays the clarinet and Carl Miller the trombone. I love the inclusion of these horns and woodwinds. The last chorus is played only with them.

7. “K Street”:

The seventh tune has a very Clash-esque intro. Until the verses when the galopping guitars of NWOBH are back as well as those “Be My Baby” drums. The poppiness of the vocal melodies is still the glue that holds the band together. I love the little basslines that show up in the middle of the song. The theme of loneliness is very prevalent on this album and K Street represents itself as just another place to be lonely. It makes sense that it’s about K Street in DC.

8. “You Will Be the One”:

The song that sounds the most like it would be a radio hit is “You Will Be the One”. It has all the elements a pop punk song needs to be a hit. A catchy melody and catchy licks and all put together in this Fastbacks blender. And now through all the lonely songs, the storm has passed and there’s some optimism again. The protagonist has been through a lot, but they will be the one that knows all the rules and won’t follow their heart anymore. Happiness has a price, I guess. Life does that sometimes. It’s the only song on the album written by Stuverud.

9. “Call It What You Want”:

Opens with only bass and drums until a nice little guitar comes in. “Call It What You Want” is a bit slower than the rest of the songs on the album and almost has an ominous tone to it, like something scary is coming. Almost like a Cure song from that era. I can hear two guitars playing different solos and I’m not really sure what solo to focus on. The song tells the tale of someone calling their friend without the call being reciprocated. The friend is clearly home, but he won’t pick up the phone. On an album that has had a motif of loneliness, it’s quite a contrast bringing in a character that enjoys the solitude.

10. “Set Me Free”:

Another more hard rock, almost glam metal sounding tune. “Set Me Free” has the same sound NOFX would try later on S&M Airlines, in many ways. I guess it’s my least favorite tune on the album and most of the things that makes the Fastbacks so great aren’t really present here. The lyrics are also maybe the darkest on the album. The song is sung from the point of view of someone who is captive and tortured and in pain and just wanting to break free. And this person could be so many. A slave, a prisoner, a kidnap survivor (or someone who didn’t survive for that matter), or someone stuck in an awful, or even abusive relationship. I meant it when I said you had not dodged the Sweet, this is a Sweet cover! Written by Andy Scott.

11. “I Need Some Help”:

The album ends with “I Need Some Help”, a rough and hard-hitting punk rock song. I love how the guitar in the solo almost sounds like a synth. The song is not as poppy as many of the other songs, but still has this sing-along aspect to it. I feel like many punks have sat around singing this song together. Awesome drum solo, too. The light at the end of the tunnel/broken relationship theme is back here. The protagonist is sick of being pushed around and tired of their significant other and decides to not let them bring them down anymore and to take control of their own life.

12. “In America”: Originally, the album had 8 tracks, but with four bonus tracks most copies have 11. Discogs doesn’t even have a release with only 8 tracks though. One might say it was originally an EP, but I dunno, who cares? There’s also an edition with several more bonus tracks. The best tune out of these bonus tracks is “In America”. It’s as catchy as it gets and is the most political of the bunch. Criticizing the US as a place to live and claiming there’s a better life elsewhere, asking “Do you really want to be in America?” Of course there’s always the dilemma of actually leaving; something that isn’t always as easy.  A true classic here.

This is an album that I discovered recently. At the end of the last decade to be more precise and I’ve listened to it many times since then, but I always felt like I should listen to it more, and writing this article has pushed me to do that! An album that has meant a lot in the development of ‘90s pop punk. Next album up is the 60th in this column and might also be the last one, at least in a while. It’s Nerf Herder’s self-titled debut!