FAST CARS - 'WELL.YOU STARTED IT!' CD

Hailing from Manchester, The Fast Cars were very under rated and never got the breaks they so deserved, often been likend to The Undertones and many punk related bands, judge for yourself, Punk, Mod, New Wave or even Indie! Who cares? They sound f'ing awesome!, thinking back to the good old days your mind always seems to link The Fast Cars with their awesome tune "The Kids Just Wanna Dance", well pass by anything else from that period and listen to this new offering from the powerpop kings!

Formed way back in October 1977 after following their punk counterparts, The Buzzcocks, The Drones & Joy Division the quartet of Steve Murray--vocals, Stuart Murray--bass guitar, Craig Hilton--guitar & Tony Dyson on drums released their first single way back in 1979 and have rightly so, grown from strength to strength to such a level that their are more popular now than they ever were with fansites on the net all over the globe! And the highest accolade newer bands of today cite them as Influences! Up steps the remarkable undisputed king of Revival, Dizzy and his Detour Records crew to conjour up this album featuring classic tracks from the 70`s that have been lost in time and now re-recorded for our listening pleasure!

Onto the tracks now..."Here We Are Today"...Steve Murray puts alot into the vocals on this track that you feel your back in the Mod Revival period, but it`s here we are today, "Penthouse Monkeys"... don`t know about penthouse, but this tune puts those other 'monkeys' to shame! I'm sure you get my meaning on that.., "Best Friend"...just realised im listening on my headset, sod that, main speakers, let the neighbours have a blast of the best band to come out of Manchester. "Teenage 'Art"...nice to hear a slower tune from these,very very well written song and the guitar work is exellent, "Instant Popstars"...ok sorry but I can't stop singing this song in my head, but why the hell do I keep singing instant pop tarts arrrggh, help me!
, "Way Of The World"...nice use of rythmm guitar in the background in this tune, quite a soulful song to be honest, "Who Loves Jimmy Anderton"...ok air guitar in hand and looking a fool as passersby see me through the window, "Tears Are Over"...this song reminds me of The Circles, sorry I hate to compare bands like that but hey I like The Circles too, so shhh!, "So James Dean"...a real foot tapper in it`s own right, classssssssssssss!, "Turn On The Radio"...ok Tony Dyson your the man on this tune, did you ever audition for The Who??, no, well hey your a mad man on the drums dude!, Ending this repetoire is, "Piece Of England"...the guys go to town on this tune, the union jack on their backs, nice touch on the lyrics there lads!

These guys will forever be part of our movement in one form or another, and are regular visitors to Mod Radio and are played alot and so they should!, Just to finish off this review, Do yourselves a favour buy this piece of Mod, Punk, Powerpop!! whatever you may call it!! Just get out and buy it!

Reviewed By Macky Mod Radio UK

FAST CARS - 'WELL.YOU STARTED IT!' CD

This new album from Manchester's excellent FAST CARS features not only new tracks but also five of their classic songs from the 70's that have been re-recorded and holy shit is it overflowing with enthusiasm and energy.
Their unique blend of punk, rock and power pop merging the styles of THE CLASH, BUZZCOCKS, T-REX, DAVID BOWIE, UNDERTONES, THE JAM etc is so powerful, so open and so honest and that's not been lost 30 years after they originally formed.
A real band never loses that passion, the excitement is inescapable and this record is bursting at the seams with that exciting fire. Aside from the dates appearing beside the song titles making it obvious when each track was written, this album flows so smoothly that you wouldn't believe that there was 24 years between some of these songs.and that's fantastic.
This is super, super necessary and sounds so young a fresh it's frightening. This is the sound I'd kill for. This is the sound that gets me to the core and this CD just won't leave my stereo.

Marco NFT Nofronteeth Fanzine UK, Nov 2007

What a great disc! Such catchy songs. (from a personal e-mail Nov 2007).

Pat Duncan DJ @ WFMU fm New York USA.

Check out his playlists - listen to his show he has played most of the tracks off the album already, his favourite is "iNstant popstars"!!

A group which started their career 30 years ago and here they have only re-recrodings of both old and new songs. It´s songs from 1978 to 2004 which is in the focus on this record. Powerpunk, powerpop or what to call this and it sounds so f****g nice to listen to this group. I get the feeling of early punk and in that style which makes me feel really young. You felt more dangerous in that time and even if Fast Cars wasn´t a group who was forbidden to play as Pistols so was this musicstyle new and they have managed to give us that feeling to both the new and old songs. Undertones, Boomtown Rats, Adverts, London is some of the groups which as a ground for this record.
Invest! (8/10) 31/10-07

web.telia.com

Fast Cars from Manchester released in 2001 the excellent studio album tracks from the 70's on the "Coming ... Ready Or Not!" CD really came to the taste.
There was contrary to expectations in the various places now available for 77 inspired PowerPop-Punk around the globe a brisk activity can be reported.
The band performed live in front of an audience again, even in Japan, where they played a couple of sell out shows.

With this new thrust to popularity, the band then finally went in the studio again, and at last new material, 11 songs presented in really great shape!
The difference between old and new is as good as not to recognize. For example, the song "Instant Popstars", which originally written in 2003 by Singer Steven Murray could have also certainly come from the year 1978 as songs in the same vain, such as "Who Loves Jimmy Anderton?", Which of course is also on the CD.
The booklet written by Steven Murray describes a very detailed history of the emergence of the band to read.
Conclusion: For BUZZCOCKS- and UNDERTONES- fans just the right gift for this year under the fir tree. Christmas can also come!
( 5 stars ) - auto-translated from German
Ralf Realshock 3rd Generation Nation webzine Nov 2007

Volle geile alte Punk/Mod Band aus England. Sehr zackiger Sound, da gefällt mir wirklich fast jedes Lied. Offensichtlich gibt es diese Herren immer noch oder halt wieder und auf der Scheibe haben sie alte und neue Songs aufgenommen. Man glaubt aber, das sind alles Klassiker aus den späten 70er Jahren. Wer auf Bands wie Buzzcocks steht, der sollte sich die schnellen Autos einmal genehmigen. Echt stark!!!

(Babel fish translation)
Old Punk/Mod band from England. Very jagged sound, that pleases me really nearly each song. Obviously there are these gentlemen still or stop again and on the disk it old and new Songs took up. One believes however, that it is all classical author from the late 70's. Whoever stands on bands such as Buzzcocks, should approve the fast cars once. Genuinly strongly!!!
Review from Austrian webzine, November 2007

Ox-Fanzine / Ausgabe #75
Die 1977 in Swinton Manchester gegründeten FAST CARS, vielen vielleicht bekannt durch ihren 1979er Pop-Punk Hit "The kids just wanna dance", legen mit "Well ... You Started It!" ihr zweites Album in Originalbesetzung vor. Bis 1979 gab es nur die eine erwähnte Single. Der späte Erfolg, vor allem in Japan, ihres ersten Albums "Coming ... .Ready Or Not" aus dem Jahr 2001 komplett mit alten Songs, führte wohl dazu, dass die FAST CARS nachlegten. Auf "Well ... You Started It!" finden sich diesmal nur vier "alte" Songs. Die restlichen sieben stammen aus den Jahren 2002-04 und halten den 77er Geist am Leben. Energiegeladener unpeinlicher Powerpop und Punk zwischen VAPORS, BUZZCOCKS und JAM.
(36:35) (7) (Kay Wedel)
Original review

auto-translated from German
The 1977 in Swinton Manchester founded FAST CARS, many may know by their 1979 Pop-Punk hit "The kids just want to dance," "Well ... You Started It!" is the second album with the original band members. Until 1979, there was only one mentioned single. The late success, especially in Japan, of their first album "Coming .... Ready Or Not" from the year 2001, complete with old songs, probably led to the fact that FAST CARS produced "Well ... You Started It!" This time there are only four "old" songs. The remaining seven are from the years 2002-04, and keep the 77er spirit alive. It features Powerpop and Punk music such as played by VAPORS, BUZZCOCKS and JAM.

The new cd is brilliant! really good stuff on there.
Corey Duffel - Professional Skateboarder, California, USA. 2nd Nov, 2007

Page 111 on the January 2008 copy of "Scootering" magazine, you need to buy it to read it, I did and it's good !!!
http://www.scootering.com/'>