Fastbacks

The Profile

American power-pop/punk band from Seattle featuring Kim Warnick, Lulu Gargiulo, and guitarist Kurt Bloch. Debut LP ...And His Orchestra arrived in 1987; they became cult favorites through the 1990s.

Formed in Seattle in 1979 by Kurt Bloch and Kim Warnick; early lineup soon included Lulu Gargiulo. Debut LP ...And His Orchestra (1987). Core 1990s albums include Very, Very Powerful Motor (1990), Zücker (1993), Answer The Phone, Dummy (1994), New Mansions In Sound (1996), The Question Is No (1998), and The Day That Didn’t Exist (2001).

A spirited praise of Fastbacks as a pre-grunge Seattle beacon of power-pop energy. The review spotlights And His Orchestra, celebrating Kurt Bloch’s exuberant guitar work and the naïve-to-fierce vocal interplay of Kim Warnick and Lulu Gargiulo. It contrasts their joyful escapism with grunge’s gloom while noting undercurrents of anxiety in a few tracks.