2008 Woodie Awards
CD Review: Fastball Brings It "On"
"Keep Your Wig On" makes the case that this is the world's best pop band.
Michael Ordoña
Issue date: 5/26/04 Section: Valley Life
- Page 1 of 1
Music fans despairing over the disappearance of melodic, hard-edged, rock songwriting should tune in to the latest work by Fastball's Miles Zuniga and Tony Scalzo - the Lennon and McCartney of Austin, Texas.
After scoring a breakthrough hit with 1998's "The Way" and its platinum-selling album, "All the Pain Money Can Buy," the band looked to be a contender for Next Big Thing. However, despite a fine follow-up single ("Fire Escape") and a superior 2000 release ("The Harsh Light of Day"), their sales dropped off the table and internal tensions drove the band to the brink of implosion. Now they're back on a new label (Rykodisc) with their strongest work yet, "Keep Your Wig On."
The new album features their usual clean, straightforward production (a pristine mix by the legendary Bob Clearmountain) and irresistible hooks over driving rock textures. This time around, the once-competing Zuniga and Scalzo have joined forces, co-writing most of the record. The result is a collection of rich, multidimensional songs with gorgeous melodies and harmonies and right-on arrangements.
Standouts include the radio-ready "Lou-ee Lou-ee," the surprisingly Billy Joel-esque "I Get High" and the album closer "Red Light," with fiesta horns and galvanizing, supremely confident vocal interplay between Zuniga and Scalzo. The self-deprecating "Till I Get It Right" bounces along with a shot of ska and "Mercenary Girl" is a hilarious country lament. Of their individually written pieces, Scalzo's "Drifting Away" has a sweet pop vocal arrangement built on layers of the writer's voice, one of the best in rock. Zuniga's "Someday," like his earlier "Vampires," is a soaring, evocative track that belongs in a film.
The album's centerpiece, however, is "Falling Upstairs," with its complex, haunting tune, dreamlike guitar and impassioned lyrics: "You came to me from a secret place / You're beautiful and strange to me / Just like an antique melody / Too sad / for me to play."
With "Keep Your Wig On," Fastball demonstrate convincingly that if they are a one-hit wonder, it's because their songwriting craft is too good for radio.
After scoring a breakthrough hit with 1998's "The Way" and its platinum-selling album, "All the Pain Money Can Buy," the band looked to be a contender for Next Big Thing. However, despite a fine follow-up single ("Fire Escape") and a superior 2000 release ("The Harsh Light of Day"), their sales dropped off the table and internal tensions drove the band to the brink of implosion. Now they're back on a new label (Rykodisc) with their strongest work yet, "Keep Your Wig On."
The new album features their usual clean, straightforward production (a pristine mix by the legendary Bob Clearmountain) and irresistible hooks over driving rock textures. This time around, the once-competing Zuniga and Scalzo have joined forces, co-writing most of the record. The result is a collection of rich, multidimensional songs with gorgeous melodies and harmonies and right-on arrangements.
Standouts include the radio-ready "Lou-ee Lou-ee," the surprisingly Billy Joel-esque "I Get High" and the album closer "Red Light," with fiesta horns and galvanizing, supremely confident vocal interplay between Zuniga and Scalzo. The self-deprecating "Till I Get It Right" bounces along with a shot of ska and "Mercenary Girl" is a hilarious country lament. Of their individually written pieces, Scalzo's "Drifting Away" has a sweet pop vocal arrangement built on layers of the writer's voice, one of the best in rock. Zuniga's "Someday," like his earlier "Vampires," is a soaring, evocative track that belongs in a film.
The album's centerpiece, however, is "Falling Upstairs," with its complex, haunting tune, dreamlike guitar and impassioned lyrics: "You came to me from a secret place / You're beautiful and strange to me / Just like an antique melody / Too sad / for me to play."
With "Keep Your Wig On," Fastball demonstrate convincingly that if they are a one-hit wonder, it's because their songwriting craft is too good for radio.
