Like Paranoid Social Club’s ON Entertainment debut before it, As Fast As’ first record for Octone Records (famous for Maroon 5) will be pretty familiar for the band’s local fans. Like, say, the title, Open Letter to the Damned, which is what they called their independent release. And “Something Fierce,” the title track from the second independent release by As Fast As’ previous incarnation, Rocktopus. In fact only four of the 11 songs here are brand-new: “Florida Sunshine,” “Blame it on the Drugs,” “If I Only Knew,” and “Special,” even if others have been reimagined and re-produced.
Still, there are advantages to this whole label thing. If you pre-order the disc, for example, you get free downloads, an autographed booklet, and a “Florida Sunshine” ringtone. You even get entered to win special As Fast As-logoed Onitsuka sneakers. That’s right, As Fast As have their own sneakers. They’re like Kobe Bryant! And having big-name producers like Matt Wallace (who also did 6gig’s last record), Howard Benson, and Brian Malouf credited on the album can’t hurt.
They’ve also got themselves a slot on the WHFStival, a two-day affair in Baltimore, May 28 and 29, where As Fast As will share the stage with such big-timers as Kanye West, Counting Crows, and the Strokes — even close-to-big-timers like Orthodox Jewish reggae purveyor Matisyahu and once-were-big-timers Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Think that sounds like an eclectic line-up? That’s standard practice for As Fast As, who recently went from a tour supporting nu-metalers Unwritten Law to another supporting song-meister Gavin Degraw.
And that makes sense, considering the album, which is straight-up rock and roll enough to be stadium concert material, but maintains enough songwriting chops to be comfortable in your living room. Proof of this was an April session at the Studio, in Portland, where As Fast As recorded a number of their tunes, and a cover or two, in acoustic fashion in front of a live audience of family and friends. This band does not need to plug in to please. All four of them are musicians’ musicians, reveling in strange instruments, strange sounds, and strange guest appearances from the likes of Seacoast songwriter Melvern Taylor, who seems to come with a ukulele surgically attached.
It was there I heard “Special” for the first time. Along with “So Good,” featured only on the most recent Greetings From Area Code 207 installation, it is proof that As Fast As frontman Spencer Albee is only improving as a songwriter. Which is saying something. Since Rustic Overtones’ dissolution in 2001, Albee has released four full-length albums of material, first as the Popsicko, then Rocktopus, and now As Fast As. Some of us will still say the Popsicko album is his best work, but that might be nostalgia talking. Regardless, Albee has never sold short his early-made reputation as a stellar pop songwriter.
You’ve seen me laud bands for interesting song constructions, deviating from the standard verse-chorus-bridge, but I’ll here laud As Fast As for reveling in the standard pop structure. There’s never any doubt with Albee and company about what’s the verse, what’s the chorus, and what’s the bridge. But they’re not aiming for art-rock, they’re aiming for that timeless quality that makes a rock song resonate whether it’s coming out of your transistor radio or high-end stereo, something that’ll lodge firmly in your head and refuse to leave.
“Special” is just such a song. It’s constructed like many of the songs on Damned, kicking with a big sound full of guitars, then quieting down for the first verse, this one introducing a tale of two personals ads. The two-part chorus migrates from the gal’s point of view to the guy’s, providing a bit of wrinkle, and if you don’t find yourself both singing along and empathizing with Albee’s frank admission that “I want someone special, whoah-oh,” then you’re just a heartless fuck.
Oh, did I swear there? As Fast As do, too, showing a little grit and proving they’re not aiming too obviously for the teen market. I was particularly pleased to hear “Wasted Youth,” and its “I stuck a magnet in your eye/ Now you fuck like Laura Dern,” made the final cut. Listen, too, for the Andrew Hodgkins drum break. I could have done without the five-minute “Skin the Kat,” the only I Love You! Good Morning! holdover here, which is the longest on the album and, yes, too long. “This Is Real” was worth keeping if only for Hache’s bass break, and “Gretchen My Captain,” complete with its ukulele opener and sweet-love lyrics, is another good choice, though I have a little history with it, having heard it for the first time in acoustic version at Best Music Poll 5.
