Very, Very Powerful Motor (Popllama)
by J Neo - From Puncture Magazine (#22).
Veteran early-80's poppy punk band from Seattle (with a Young Fresh Fellow on guitar and songwriting) makes a comeback of sorts. Word is that this was to be their swan song; the band was falling apart and forgotten, so they went into the studio to lay down one last tape. Next thing you know, it's coming out as an album on PopLlama, a buzz begins, and the Fastbacks have a new lease on life. I won't go so far as to call it a happy ending- they could still break up next week- but you, dear reader, should give this album a listen.
Bearing no resemblance to any current Seattle sound, the Fastbacks have created a fun, garagey, bursting-with-life noise that conjures up the earliest days of punk rock. Spirited playing; bug, upfront smash-chord guitars; and Kim Warnick's snotty-innocent vocals (somewhere between Joan Jett and Angel Corpus-Christi); even odd semiclassical strains here and there (the sweet, stately melody on "I'll Be OK," and one of the best yet power-pop uses of Pachelbel's Canon on another tune). The penultimate track, "Always Tomorrow," is the best: an extended raging psychedelic thraser, exploding with dramatic power. I'd say this motor has a few more good trips left in it.
