If I Need Some Help Then I'll Ask Someone Else

Sometimes record labels will send out crappy "advance copies" of CDs like the one you see here, instead of the real thing. I knew a bunch of fanzines that wouldn't bother to review these, since they're missing all the artwork and stuff, but Brushback wasn't one of them because making fun of lousy records is my passion.

I didn't get this CD for free, actually-- I rescued this one from the $3 bin at Brass City Records, since anything by the Fastbacks is worth $3, easily. My favorite Fastbacks track of all time is on this album, "Space Station No. 5", even though it's just a cover of a old Montrose/Sammy Hagar song. It friggin' rocks, though, and sometimes I would just set this song on "repeat" and listen to it 10 or 12 times in a row. I have days when there really isn't all that much to do around here, obviously.




Fastbacks -

"Space Station No. 5"

(this file is now listen-only)

Since this is a pretty flimsy excuse for a post, I'm also gonna include the Fastbacks' "Gone To The Moon" CD EP. "Go All The Way" is a Raspberries' cover; on an only slightly related note, Rev. Norb (of Boris The Sprinkler) once wrote a lyric that rhymed "Eric Carmen" with "squeeze the Charmin", which makes him a genius, I guess.





Fastbacks -

"Gone to The Moon"

"Go All The Way"

"The Right Thing"

(these files are now listen-only)

I'm Really Out Of It

As I've said before, like with the Monkees and the Bee Gees, if a band's going to have 15 or 20 singles out then you might as well try owning at least one or two*... I actually used to own a heckuva lot of Fastbacks singles, and I don't think I got even close to having a full set. I've only got a few left now, though, and (duh) this is one of them.

So-- two great songs on this, neither of them penned by Kurt, although they're each cool in their own different way. "Wait It Out" has no real verse to it, just an odd percussive organ bit and some strummed guitar parts that I swear remind me of Dinosaur's "Forget The Swan" at times; then when that crunching riff kicks in for the chorus, you start thinking, "Hey, this is pretty neat!" On the flip, "The Jester" (written by sometime-Fastbacks drummer Rusty Willoughby) starts with an almost straight-up Ramones rip, and ends with an extra hook thrown in just to be sure.

This comes in a pretty deluxe gatefold sleeve that includes a message on the spine: "That was pretty good, now how bout some Rock and Roll." Seems kinda dumb, but it beats the standard "Hey buddy, what the fuck are you looking at?", I guess.




Fastbacks -

"Wait It Out"

"The Jester"

(these files are now listen-only)












*This didn't make much sense the first time I wrote it, either