In a time when teenybopper pop bands rule the airwaves and teenage starlets flaunt themselves on MTV, Fastball proves that growing up is the only way to first-rate music.
After a popular sophomoric attempt at "trendy" music in 1998, Fastball follows up "All the Pain Money Can Buy" with a new, more mature look at the world. "The Harsh Light of Day" is a particularly apt title for the new CD, which takes an intense look at a full range of ideas and passions. Unlike the melodic "Out of my Head," these songs force you to think as you bounce along to the lyrics stuck in your head.
Miles Zuniga and Tony Scalzo, the two main songwriters, show their ability to tickle their audience's fancy, making it difficult to ignore the group's new talents.
Thanks to guitarist Joey Shuffield, "This is Not My Life" has a particularly angry and bitter beat. With lyrics like, "You took away my laugh ... my reason to live," the first track on the disk covers the harsh, fuming passions involved in difficult relationships. Such a sound is quite a change for Fastball, but the transformation seems almost effortless.
By contrast, the second track sends listeners "up among the stars." "You're An Ocean" is bouncy - you're destined to walk around Grounds humming it for days after your first listen. The vocalists cherish the first instances of a fresh passion and the lyrics are unbelieving and yet ecstatic.
Fastball hops from one sensation to the next and back again. The matured group covers one of life's basic truths in track number four: "Love is Expensive and Free" is a classic contradiction. Yet, as anyone can attest to, the lyrics are also extremely realistic and honest. With sequences like, "Talk to me about appearances, I'll tell you, lately they mean less and less," Fastball hits close to home.
After covering a heavy load of emotions, the album stands firm within the "real world." The final song, "Whatever Gets You On," is a compilation of daily activities, from morning coffee and the paper to cigarettes and the city lights. Almost like MTV's popular show, it puts a spotlight on day-to-day living. Honest and utterly real, this song is extremely adult.
Fastball sums up their own album in song number three, "Goodbye." Borrowing "Bye, Bye, Bye" from N'Sync, the group's lyrics poke fun and wave farewell to an "imaginary" bubblegum singer who is unable to take the pressure of the music business. "Millions of people loved what you did, but when it hit ya you ran and hid from the money ... the rules of the game ... they bought your face boy." As a group, Fastball has matured, and they have little respect for bands that are unable to do the same.
Old Fastball listeners definitely will notice the innovative music of "The Harsh Light of Day." And perhaps the album will do what it promises : open the eyes of the people enjoying the music.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
