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Artist of the Week: The Fast Romantics

Two days of musical bliss at the Virgin Music Festival in Calgary!

June 21 and 22, 2008 were probably two of the greatest days of my life. I spent the majority of my time that weekend in Fort Calgary at the Virgin Music Festival. From 1:00 till 11:00 PM both days, my soul was nourished, my eardrums were strained, and my mind was blown by the scores of musical talent that took over the fort.

Who says that opening bands usually suck? The first set I watched was that of the Fast Romantics. I don’t think the weekend could have started off any better. I’d never heard of the group before, but from the second Matt Angus stepped out on stage with the rest of the band, I knew that this was one band I wasn’t going to forget.

The energy in their live show was absolutely incredible. Every song was tight, catchy, and brought a lot of energy to an otherwise lazy Saturday afternoon. The crowds weren’t thick yet and the sun was unbelievably hot, but the Fast Romantics played as though they were headlining the whole event.

Since the group didn’t have an album out yet, I overplayed the songs on their MySpace page over and over again until I was diverted by other musical interests. I didn’t think much about the group till a few months later, when I did an email interview with Mike Fraser, legendary Canadian music engineer, mixer, and producer. I was visiting Mike’s website and saw that he’d worked with the Fast Romantics.

Well, I’d thought that the band was great at Virgin Fest, and this confirmed those thoughts. The boys from Calgary were mixing their debut album with the same guy who worked with Joe Satriani, Aerosmith, and AC/DC! That speaks volumes about the Fast Romantic’s talent.

This is going to be an incredible album. On their MySpace page, there are six tracks up, all of which are awesome. Lyrically, the Fast Romantics are talented, but what continues to draw me into the music is the innovative and super fresh sound. They don’t sound like anyone else. Need proof? Listen to the first 35 seconds of Sleepy Jean. (Then listen to the rest of it, too.)

I’m no music expert, and therefore cannot make any predictions as to how long we have to wait for this album. However, they are the Fast Romantics, so a speedy release is hopefully within the realm of possibility!