You don’t need me to tell you that Seattle has changed a lot since 1999. The meteoric ascent of Amazon and big tech has left parts of the city nearly unrecognizable as rent has skyrocketed, beloved music venues have come and gone, and hundreds of Northwest bands have risen to fame and broken up. Amidst this ever-shifting process, though, one institution remains strong: The Northwest pop-punk legends Fastbacks. 

“Just like the Space Needle and Dick’s, Fastbacks are always around and just as iconic,” said Seattle musician Rick Friel, who’s played with the likes of the Rockfords and Goodness. “Their independent, playful spirit, can-do attitude, and sense of humor are what the Northwest is all about.”

On August 28, bassist and vocalist Kim Warnick, guitarist Kurt Bloch, guitarist and vocalist Lulu Gargiulo, and drummer Michael Musburger will release For What Reason!, the band’s first album in 25 years. And the songs are as good—if not better!—as they’ve ever been. The 11 tracks are chock full of catchy hooks, shredding guitar leads, and that signature Fastbacks sound that leaves your cheeks aching from smiling and singing along. Over the years, they’ve released albums on Sub Pop and Pop Llama, but this one will be self-released on Bloch’s label, No Three’s Records. 

“The idea of trying to find a record label and somebody to put our record out just seemed ridiculous,” Musburger said with a laugh. “Ridiculous.”

Though never quite a household name compared to some of their late-'80s and early '90s contemporaries like Alice in Chains or Soundgarden (and, they say, that definitely was never their goal anyway), Fastbacks are a band’s band, whose power-pop-punk sound earned them a cult-like following among music fans and peers alike. (And before you get all, “There is no ‘The,’ It’s just Fastbacks,’” like the world’s most insufferable Pixies fans, please know that whether you call them Fastbacks or the Fastbacks, the band assured me there is no wrong answer—it’s interchangeable.)

“The Fastbacks are the most Seattle band ever,” said Ben London. As the Executive Director for Sonic Guild Seattle and a musician who’s performed with and worked on records by everyone from Alcohol Funnycare to the Gits to Stag to Saint Bushmill’s Choir, he’s heard his share of local rock. “They're as if the Island of Misfit Toys formed a band and wrote a million songs mocking everyone else for not being a misfit."

As a lifelong diehard fan of Northwest rock, meeting up for coffee with Fastbacks at the quirky West Seattle house-turned-coffee shop C&P was a dream come true. 

Sitting down alongside these four, I immediately felt the sibling-like bond between the members. They finish each other’s sentences, tell self-deprecating inside jokes, and meander into wonderful stories, like that time back in 1979 when Bloch got to see a young Judas Priest open up at the Paramount, then raced down to the Seattle Center Coliseum to see Van Halen, only to sneak back into the Paramount to catch a headlining UFO set. 

For founding members Bloch, Gargiulo, and Warnick, this bond goes back more than 45 years, to their days at Nathan Hale High School. 

Even before their band started practicing in the basement in '79, Gargiulo and Warnick were friends. The two met Bloch a couple years later in class, and they started a small photo business together. Musburger joined the crew in 1992. He was a seasoned touring musician by that point, as an original member of the Posies and Love Battery. While Fastbacks are notorious for having a rotating cast of characters behind the drum set—Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan filled the role for a stint in the '80s—at this point, Musburger says he is the longest-tenured drummer in the band’s history. 

“It’s like having a family that you've been with for your whole life,” Gargiulo says.

“Even without the Fastbacks, we’d all be friends,” Musburger adds.

When the topic of the Seattle rock boom of the early '90s gets brought up, Bloch immediately hops in with the jokes. 

“I'm not saying that we were against any major label stuff, they just didn’t come knocking. There were plenty of them around. It would be interesting to talk to them now and ask, ‘Why didn’t you like this band?’”

Gargiulo jokingly made a case for a new reporting angle. 

“‘So yeah, I'm calling on behalf of the Fastbacks and I just have this question… ‘Why not them?’ Yeah, maybe that should be the name of the next record. Why Not Them?”

So why, after 25 years, are Fastbacks putting out a new record? No one offered them absurd amounts of reunion money, and millions of fans aren’t clamoring for more after hearing an old song go viral on TikTok (yet). 

Turns out it’s pretty simple. 

Just over a year ago, the four friends all met up for lunch to pick up some LPs Bloch was reissuing. Things escalated quickly from there.

“Kim was like, ‘We should make a new album.’ Which is what those guys are always saying,” Bloch says. “I’m always like, ‘No, we shouldn’t make a new record.’” 

But instead of leaving it at that, Musburger went ahead and called up a longtime friend of the band, Joe Reineke, to inquire about booking some time at his Seattle studio, Temple of the Trees. Coincidentally, he had a free couple of days in about a month. Surely enough time to write and record a Fastbacks record, right?

“That's when we had to do it,” says Warnick. “[We said] ‘Well, I guess we have two days of studio time booked now. We better.’”

In the past, Bloch had to do much of the work—“Because he has to do everything. If it’s gonna happen, it’s up to him,” says Musburger—but this time was different. Warnick brought some material with her, including the first single, “Come On”, and they had an unreleased B-side to work with. They even revived a song they recorded back in 2002 by re-recording the drums. That track, “The World Inside,” closes the album, and, clocking in at a little over seven minutes, it steps outside the band’s usual 120-second sonic blast of joyful pepped-up punk formula.

When we swerve away from the jokes and stories of Seattle’s rock ‘n’ roll past, you can tell the bandmates are sincerely excited about the final results. There are no media-trained and canned PR campaign answers, just real, raw energy and happiness.

“[For What Reason!] sounds just killer,” Gargiulo says. “Even though we're really old, there's that youthful sort of energy that sort of is infused.”

“The only thing different is the songwriting. I think it's gotten a little better,” Warnick adds. 

While they don't plan on playing any more live shows—shows are stressful and just not as fun as they used to be, they say—you can still get a fix of that old-school Fastbacks feeling at their official album release party and signing event on August 29 at Easy Street Records. The band says it will feature a roundtable discussion hosted by McKagan and "questionable answers.”

Their enthusiasm for For What Reason! stretches out into the future, too. When asked if, after waiting 25 years for this album, it will take another 25 years for a follow-up, Warnick is optimistic.

“I certainly hope not.”

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The Fastbacks will host a For What Reason! listening and signing event at Easy Street Records Thursday, August 29, at 7 pm. It's free and all ages.