What Used to Be New?

What Used to be News

Older Archived News
Recent - 1999 - 1997 - 1996

12/31/98

Happy New Years from the Fastbacks! Added 3 live pictures from their Crocodile show on 12/8.

I've heard that the new Fastbacks single is available in Seattle. If you live in Seattle and wanna buy it, best bets would be to check Fallout or Sonic Boom.

Fastbacks opening for DOA at the Fenix has been confirmed. I believe the date is set for January 15.

12/21/98 - 12/22/98

Added a 30 second preview MP3 of "Maybe" and cover image of new Spanish single (4 tracks: Maybe/On the Couch/Teenage FBI (live)/I'll Return) out on Munster! I don't know if it's in stores yet, but I should be able to get a few copies for sale on the site. I don't know any details for sure yet, but once I do, I'll pass them along. Due to the limited quantities of this single (I believe they are only making 500), I will contact certain Fastbacks fans regarding it's sale through the Giant Lever (note: probably the people who purchased the Marshall Artist CD; I know it ain't fair, but life ain't fair). Please don't e-mail me regarding purchase of it. Hopefully you will be able to find it at a better record store near you. You can always try the label directly, although they are in Spain, I'm sure they can get you distribution info (www.munster-records.com). Thanks!

A few statistical updates to reflect the new single.

12/13/98

Updated the timeline for the last couple of shows

No word yet on the Spanish single. Hopefully it will be ready this month.

Marshall Artist record is available. I'm selling it for $7 through the site. 15 songs, 40 minutes, features Kim, Kurt, and Mike from the Fastbacks. Produced by Kurt Bloch.

If you want one, send $7 to:

Scott Lee
321 Boylston Ave E.
Seattle, WA 98102

Added a boatload of new images to the image gallery. I finally had enough time to upload pictures of the singles.

Good news! The Fastbacks will be in the studio this week (12/14-12/17) recording basics for their next album. No word on when it might be finished or released. They are still looking for a record label to possibly put it out. This is their first full length in almost 3 years. On Tuesday, Dec 8, they debuted 12 new tunes for an enthusiastic crowd at the Crocodile. Judging from the response, people loved the new material. I tend to be biased, but I also think it's some of their best stuff yet.

I recently wrote a retrospective on the Fastbacks for the upcoming debut issue of Hit List magazine. It should be published soon out of San Francisco, and hopefully it will be available in Seattle. It covers 1959-1981. Part two will be written shortly and then published in the 2nd issue of Hit List.

10/26/98

Updated the timeline for the last couple of shows and upcoming shows (including an opening slot for one of my personal favs, the Muffs!)

I heard from Francisco at Munster. The Spanish single is slated for a mid-November release date. Hopefully there will be no more delays!

Marshall Artist record should be ready by Friday, November 13. Phantom release date of November 17 has been posited.

Fixed a few things in Kurt's production credits (thanks to Francisco for helping me with some of the info regarding the Spanish releases).

10/03/98

Updated the timeline for the last couple of shows played (including a guest opening spot for Joan Jett)

Spanish single coming in mid-October. It will include 4 songs ("Maybe", "On the Couch", "I'll Return", and a live surprise!) and I may be selling it through the site.

Added an MP3 of a live version of "7 Days" from Pain In the Grass show of 8/14.

Added an MP3 of a Marshall Artist song called "On Your Words" (Produced by KB). Full length CD to be released in late October/early November. I shall be selling it for $7 for those of you who would like to purchase one.

Happy Birthday to Kurt (Aug 28).

Happy Birthday to Lulu (Oct 12).

8/7/98

Updated the timeline for the last couple of shows played.

Rumor of a new Spanish single afloat. Stay tuned for more details.

Added an MP3 of a live version of "So Wrong" from '98 Noise Pop.

I just finished recording a record with my band "Marshall Artist". Kurt was kind enough to produce it. I will be posting a preview of the record soon. Kim appears on a couple of songs (including lead vocal on a cover of Kurt's "Lost Track of Time"). Mike plays drums, Dave Fox is on the bass, Gene Sato sings and plays guitar and I also sing and play guitar. The record should be released in the next couple of months and I will probably sell it through this site if anyone shows any interest.

3/29/98

Thanks to Mel Matsuoka for suggesting an MP3 section for the site. Well, I've added it. I've also posted full stereo files for 'One of These Things' as well as other hard to find Fastbacks songs (On the Couch, One More Hour, Out of the Charts). Some of the files are about 2.5mb, but they are near-CD quality. If you've never used MP3's before, just follow the instructions on the MP3 page and you should have no problems.

Upcoming shows include a two show stint with Modest Mouse at the Crocodile on April 23 & 24.

I streamlined the homepage again. You will notice that the 'home' button has been removed from the side bar. It has been replaced with the MP3 button. You can now reach the homepage (via the side bar) by clicking on the Giant Lever image.

3/4/98

Hey, a Giant Lever exclusive. The Fastbacks recorded a 60 second version of the Sesame Street song, "One of These Things" and I have posted it on the site for your listening enjoyment. It was recorded for a TV commercial which has yet to be completed. For all those historians out there, this was produced by Peter Barnes. Do you know what else he produced? You guessed correctly, the first FBX EP, Play Five Of Their Favorites. I guess everything comes full circle.

Well it's about time! I finally updated the fan favorites page.

I've added a guestbook to the site. Please feel free to sign it and stuff. You can access it through the link on top of the news page, or through the homepage.

3/2/98

"Wild" Bill Coury (Sourmash, Once For Kicks) was in attendance at the San Francisco Noise Pop show, here is his glowing review!

A small documentary of a trip with the Fastbacks to San Francisco... It all began with a wait at the airport. A long wait quite frankly. Five hours to be exact. The group of us (Kurt, Kim, Rusty, Lisa, Jim, Ali, and myself) had to wait through two flight delays and then a cancellation before we were on our way. Nevertheless, we arrived in SF around midnight and went through the delayed process of car rentals...all in all, still worth the rock which awaited us. Because of the power of the almighty FBX, the weather was perfect..no El Nino can stand in the way of the FBX! The show was superb all the way around. Pure Joy issued us all a fine statement of rock and roll, blasting through a half hour set. Highlights included a powerful version of "Tooth Decay" and a bonus Flop song "Hello" to leave the crowd wondering "Could this be the 2nd best band in the world?" Maybe. I didn't see too much of Chixdiggit, due to the fact that I wanted to rest the ears for FBX. What I did see was the band putting on their classic "hey let's have a good time and drink some beer while we're at it" pop rock show. Smiles all around. The FBX can never let you down. Everyone (yes, Lulu was there) was flawless. Kurt played none too many guitar solos in the air, and Kim may have put on the best vocal performance ever. Kicked of with a rousing "Out of the Charts", the set was amazing. Highlights included "Maybe", "I'm Cold" (Musburger...what planet is he from!), Summer, and an amazing version of Guided by Voices' "Teenage FBI". What more can you ask for? (Except maybe "The Buired Treasure was Crap") Nothing can match the very, very, powerful rock and roll weekend.

I added a couple of items to the Press page, including a great article/interview that Charles Cross did for the Rocket back in August of '96. I also added a link to an article by Gina Arnold on the Links page.

2/26/98

Ok, this one is called the 'minor' update. I've been busy, no excuses. This update is strictly to announce that the new EP should be available in finer record stores across the world, and if you can't find it, you can order it directly through Popllama (www.rockboss.com/popllama/).

Fastbacks played a couple of shows two weeks ago and I was lucky enough to attend both. Andrew McKeag (Shuggie, UJBOD) was sitting in for Lulu for both shows and his father was kind enough to allow all of us to crash at his house near Portland. Both shows were incredible, with Andrew and Kurt displaying their GUITAR pyrotechnics to a dazzled crowd. Someone even tried to steal Kim's lyrics, but I NARC-ed him. Ha ha.

There probably will not be any shows in March, for Kurt will be in Spain producing a record by Los Hermanos Dalton, and probably also having way too much fun.

I recently acquired a video capture card, so look out, when I have some time I may be posting clips from any of the 4 videos the Fastbacks have made (Impatience, Gone to the Moon, Waste of Time, and Just Say).

For those of you lucky enough to attend the Noise Pop show in San Francisco, please drop me a line or a review and I may post it. I will not be able to attend. Laturd.
1/17/98

I made some updates to various sections regarding the new record, and I've started the process of getting the 'updated' look to some of the first parts of the site. I hope you like it.

1/12/98

Alright! The Fastbacks played a ROCK show with the Young Fresh Fellows on December 27 that was outta site! Set list was: No Information, Hung On a Bad Peg, Seven Days, Maybe (new song), Fortune's Misery, In the Observatory, One More Hour (new song), They Don't Care, Gone To the Moon, K Street, and Always Tomorrow. That night in Edenbrook Forest was one to tell your grandchildren about, with other stunning sets by the YFF (complete with costumes), Pure Joy, Huge Spacebird, and Shuggie. WOW. Those fortunate enough to see the show were also treated with a free CD with 20 songs. 2 new songs by the Fastbacks, "One More Hour" and a cover of the Supersuckers "On the Couch".
The new EP is set for a February 13 release (as you may have observed from the adjusted main page). I also added a special treat, a one minute preview of the song "No Music Played". You can hear it if you have the patience to download the wave file, it's about 1.0mb. Well worth the 15 minutes if you ask me. It even has a special greeting from Kim herself.
As you may or may not have noticed, I'm starting to clean up the site a little bit. My goal is to have it completely rescanned and resurfaced by the end of February. I have also updated the drummer pages to reflect the songs on the new record. Next update shouldn't be far off, as I have to add all of the information related to the record on the other parts of the site.
I have added a couple of new links to the site too. One of them is a Real Audio clip of an NPR story done about the Fastbacks Superfan. It's called 'Portrait of a Superfan'. If you have Real Audio, go ahead and open up the link and scan to about the 39:30 minute mark of the piece. Click here for a direct link.