STTOOOKKKAAAGGEE!!… Oh, sorry. Is this thing typing? My cat just crossed the keys – a Cheshire cat – and out the front door. No worries, though. This band seems perfectly capable of chasing after it.
Fastfade are a group of well-meaning young F.S.P’s (fast sloppy punks) out of London kicking some cool palm-mutes and starry-eyed riffs, aggressive basslines with big-band breakdowns, and a drummer who, as far as my drummer fetish is concerned, kind of does it for me with his sped up, pop-punk simplicity. With sophistication in simpatico skate punk delivery, Fastfade can go “boo boo da, boo boo da” on the snare drum of my heart all day long, and maybe/maybe not, I let them get away with it.
This is one for the snotty-nosed and broken-hearted – fourteen tracks of progressive pop punk blending the best of those great bands we’re all so comfortable with under the covers, but when it comes to date-night, “Yeah, they were good until Dookie came out.” Relax. Fastfade is all “Netflix and chill.” No reason to be antsy. These are the golden daze. Backing vocals are on point throughout, with moments of power-pop undertones reminding us that skateboarders get to have friendships and girlfriends too, sometimes, like that night you went to bed with Tell All Your Friends and realized that the back-and-forth was actually pretty pleasant… Maybe it was just beer goggles. Songs like “Naked Attraction” are supplemented with All-esque inspired riffage, where happy/poppy tunes capitulate to themes of overthinking, loneliness and being a fucking weirdo. “These days in between/ strung out on caffeine/ making sense of what don’t make sense to me.”
Fastfade is coming of age. Hell, if they ever make it stateside, these boys are going to need a friendly liaison at the bar. I know you’ll be there when the time is right. Their new album, Happy If You Aren’t, releases December 14 on Umlaut Records and is available here for pre-order. You can stream that album below, and if not… then why not just help me kill myself, then? ‘Cause that’s what’s gonna fucking happen. Gawd. WTF!? Peace.