Album Review: These Fast Times – On The Other Side Of Fear

These Fast Times are a punk rock quartet formed from the ashes of a misspent youth and multiple bad decisions, they got started in the usual way with each member starting bands, ending bands and experiencing all the hardships necessary to put a massive chip on their shoulders. In 2015 they combined their talents out of sheer desperation, refined their sound and eventually locked themselves away in a studio to produce their debut self titled EP. Following the release of the These Fast Times EP in 2016 they played anywhere and everywhere that would have them until it was time to lock themselves away again, the results of which can be heard on their debut full length, On The Other Side Of Fear.

The opening track, Falling In Love, sends a false flag with it’s gentle acoustic guitars, anthemic backing vocals and romantic sample, however first impressions are swiftly dismissed within the first few chords of It’s Not Just Me, a track that kicks things off with some raw punk rock that’s filled with more woahs than you can shake a stick at. These Fast Times idiosyncratic punk rock keeps the album flowing for just shy of forty minutes, although there are a couple of moments where they show their sensitive side such as the tender Take Me Home and the anthemic single, Lights Too Loud, that punctuate On The Other Side Of Fear.

These Fast Times are a quartet that don’t just want to be in a band, this is an outfit that sounds like they need to live on the road, stopping only to write more songs that they can then take out on the road again. On The Other Side Of Fear is an album that straddles the boundaries between melodic and raw punk rock that at times resembles an unholy and emotive four way union between Against Me!, Trashed Ambulance, NOFX and Propagandhi. These Fast Times debut full length might not have the immediate raw appeal of their 2016 debut EP, the raw edges that were a hallmark of their debut release have begun to be smoothed out, which may indicate that they are maturing… whether they like it or not.

On The Other Side Of Fear can be purchased on CD here and digitally here

These Fast Times Facebook page can be found here