Make Your Mama Proud (1996)



Greatly influenced by punk and new wave's reckless aggression, as well as power-pop's love of memorable hooks, Fastball is a band that rocks intensely but isn't without a strong melodic sense. A variety of comparisons can be made-- everyone from the Knack, Elvis Costello and Generation X to the Beatles -- but freewheeling numbers like "Knock It Down," "Human Torch" and "Back Door" show that these natives of Austin, Texas have an appealing energy of their own. At times, Fastball combines punk-ish sensibilities with early- to mid-1960s touches, two examples being "Are You Ready for the Fallout" and "Altamont." For those who like their power-pop with lots of bite, Make Your Mama Proud merits close attention.

Track listing:

• 1. Human Torch
  2. She Comes 'Round
  3. Make Your Mama Proud
  4. Back Door
  5. Are You Ready For The Fallout?
  6. Nothing
  7. Boomerang
  8. Eater
  9. Knock It Down
  10. Lender
  11. Altamont
  12. Emily
  13. Seattle
  14. Telephone Calls

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All The Pain Money Can Buy (1998)



It's appropriate that "The Way," the first song on this Austin, Texas, trio's second album, opens with someone flipping through the stations on an AM radio; the playful, vaguely Latin-flavored tune sounds as though you could have already heard it on your parents' car radio. That sense of familiarity lingers through the rest of All the Pain Money Can Buy. Fastball's two songwriters, guitarist Miles Zuniga and bassist Tony Scalzo, are adept at taking well-worn chord progressions, riffs and melodies, and fashioning convincing, even exciting, new power pop. Tracks like "Better Than It Was" and "Nowhere Road" offer a gritty, trans-Atlantic mix of styles, principally recalling the Who and the Replacements. Excellent singing and cleareyed lyrics (largely about the ups and downs of band life) help make Pain a distinct pleasure.

Track listing:

• 1. The Way
  2. Fire Escape
  3. Better Than It Was
  4. Which Way To The Top?
  5. Sooner Or Later
  6. Warm Fuzzy Feeling
  7. Slow Drag
  8. G.O.D. (Good Old Days)
  9. Charlie, The Methadone Man
  10. Out Of My Head
  11. Damaged Goods
  12. Nowhere Road
  13. Sweetwater Texas

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The Harsh Light of Day (2000)



Ahhhh, the sweet smell of success! "This," sings Miles Zuniga on The Harsh Light of Day's opening track, "this is not my life. This is not my face, this is not my place -- no, this just isn't right." Roaring to life on major-label production values, Fastball uncorks its third delivery for Hollywood Records, firing a 95mph-er right down the middle of the plate. Nothing fancy, just major league power: swelling strings, pitch-perfect harmonies, and stainless steel riffs and hooks. "You're an Ocean," the album's hummably dorky first single, segues quickly out of "This Is Not My Life" and aims for the same platinum bullseye "The Way" hit on the local trio's 1998 breakthrough, All the Pain Money Can Buy. And this time, a million units later, there's pain, all right. "Millions of people loved what you did, but when it hit ya, you ran and hid," muses Zuniga on the pouting "Goodbye," countered by his alter-superego Tony Scalzo on the adjoining "Love Is Expensive and Free" ("You can talk to me about powder kegs and how I'm sitting on one right now"). Back and forth they go, Zuniga at turns maudlin and philosophical, but always romantic ("Dark Street," "Vampires"), while Scalzo bipolarizes from extreme highs ("Morning Star") to self-pitying lows ("Funny How It Fades Away"). All the Pain Money Can Buy served up titles like "Better Than It Was," "Which Way to the Top?" and of course, "Warm Fuzzy Feeling." The Harsh Light of Day blinks back lines such as, "Money honey, buys you things, [but] it can't buy a place in the sky, and time beats up on you -- another year disappeared" ("Time"). The Harsh Light of Day -- all the pain money can buy.

Track listing:

• 1. This Is Not My Life
  2. You're An Ocean
  3. Goodbye
  4. Love Is Expensive And Free
  5. Vampires
  6. Wind Me Up
  7. Morning Star
  8. Time
  9. Dark Street
  10. Funny How It Fades Away
  11. Don't Give Up On Me
  12. Whatever Gets You On

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Live From Jupiter Records (2003)




Fastball has always been about songwriting. Songwriting credits. All three of the Austin trio's major label releases leapfrog compositions by the guitarist and bassist, each of whom sings his own contribution: Scalzo, Zuniga, Scalzo, Zuniga, Scalzo, Zuniga -- with few exceptions. Given this polarization that ultimately led to Zuniga's leaving Fastball last summer, "Songs 2,6 & 8 by Tony Scalzo and Miles Zuniga" is the best line on the reunited group's fourth and possibly best outing, the new Live From Jupiter Records. That one of these collaborations, the hemp-friendly "I Get High," is as fine as Scalzo's wistful vocal, makes the turn of events that much more heartening. The jaunty, Loudon Wainwright-like "Mercenary Girl" and bronze medallion "Falling Upstairs" do nothing to discourage the trend, especially within the friendly confines of a 32-minute, hit-peppered, unplugged set. More striking, however, is the coming together of the two longtime bandmates on the songs themselves. When Scalzo intones the perfect harmony counterpoint on Zuniga's opener "Fire Escape," a complementary note not heard since the band's 1996 debut is struck. Again and again, in fact, to riveting effect on the band's breakthrough, Scalzo's "The Way," zinged with a Mediterranean flourish here. Zuniga's Nashville souvenirs, the twang-tripped "Just Another Place" and "Airstream," smack of Music City cubicle confections, but his "Life" could've used Fastball's former parent corporation, Disney, paying radio programmers all the way to Hitsville. Instead, Hyde Park indie record store Jupiter Records becomes a label with Live. What's next, drummer Joey Shuffield's solo album?

Track listing:

• 1. Fire Escape
  2. I Get High
  3. Don't Give Up on Me
  4. The Way
  5. Just Another Place I Don't Belong
  6. Mercenary Girl
  7. Life
  8. Falling Upstairs
  9. Airstream
  10. Out of My Head

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Keep Your Wig On (2004)



Platinum recording artists Fastball return with their Rykodisc debut Keep Your Wig On, their loosest and strongest collection yet. Recorded at Viewpoint Studios in Austin, the bulk of the album was produced by Mike McCarthy (Spoon), with production contributions from Sheryl Crow songwriter Jeff Trott ("Our Misunderstanding") and Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger ("Someday," "Red Light"). The album was mixed by the legendary Bob Clearmountain.

Track listing:

• 1. Shortwave
  2. Lou-ee, Lou-ee
  3. Drifting Away
  4. Airstream
  5. I Get High
  6. Perfect World
  7. 'Til I Get It Right
  8. Our Misunderstanding
  9. Someday
  10. Mercenary Girl
  11. Falling Upstairs
  12. Red Light

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Topic Cleaned by ROXY 8/20/2009

Franchezca™

INFO:
01. All I Was Looking For Was You ( 3:42)
02. Always Never ( 3:08)
03. The Malcontent (The Modern World) ( 3:10)
04. Little White Lies ( 3:23)
05. Mono To Stereo ( 3:34)
06. How Did I Get Here? ( 2:59)
07. We’ll Always Have Paris ( 3:38)
08. Angelie ( 3:55)
09. She’s Got the Rain ( 3:27)
10. Rampart Street ( 2:09)
11. White Noise ( 2:44)
12. Soul Radio ( 4:06
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