Summer of Subway: Fastbacks

Here's another American band with a short-lived moment on the Subway Organization. Seattle's own Fastbacks signed with hometown label PopLlama in 1987. Here in the Pacific Northwest, Conrad Uno's label is legendary for launching the careers of local acts like the Young Fresh Fellows, the Posies, Girl Trouble and the Presidents of the United States of America, among many others. The first album to come from Fastbacks was '...And His Orchestra,' released in 1987. It has been described as poppy punk, and that would remain their sound to until they disbanded around the turn of the century.

'...And His Orchestra' was picked up by Martin Whitehead's label in '88 and released as suborg 8 for distribution in the UK. The album would spawn two Subway singles in 1989, "In The Winter" (subway 24) and "Wrong Wrong Wrong" (subway 26). There would be no such singles here in America. That would be it for Fastbacks on Subway. As the Fastbacks turned the calendar to the '90s, the band's timing would be impeccable as they would sign with a certain Seattle-based label that seemed to be gaining some traction. Yep, that one.

Here's a bit of trivia for you. Although the core of the band would remain Kurt, Lulu and Kim for decades, Fastbacks had a knack for going through drummers like socks. Many of them were famous musicians from around the Seattle music community. Even Duff McKagan, better known as the bassist for Guns N' Roses, kept the beat for a while. Here are those two A-sides from Subway. Enjoy.

In the Winter
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong