When a band breaks through the way Grammy-nominated Fastball did with 1998's platinum All the Pain Money Can Buy and its two hit singles "The Way" and "Out of My Head," it's easy for music critics and cynics to write the group off as a one-album wonder. However, with the expansive The Harsh Light of Day, Miles Zuniga (on guitar and vocals), Tony Scalzo (on bass and vocals), and Joey Shuffield (on drums) show enormous growth as musicians and songwriters. To release an album with rock songs this tight in a year of boy bands, pop rap, and teen nymphs is brave, but when you need to live up to the album's predecessor as well, the move might even be considered foolish, but Fastball pulls the trick off with vastly different songs that are able to stand on their own but also form a cohesive unit. With each multi-layered cut, the trio shows pop songwriting skills not often seen in such cookie-cutter times -- especially in the particularly staid field of alt-rock. Employing piano courtesy of Billy Preston (on You're an Ocean) and a mariachi orchestra courtesy of Jose Hernandez and guitar courtesy of Brian Setzer (on "Love Is Expensive and Free"), this bold album takes you on an aural adventure of strings, guitars, and hooks paired with intelligent lyrics and taut instrumentation. It's nice to see a band that is more than a one-trick pony. Fastball may just be the harsh light of day the alternative market needs.
Yesterday I visited a place I had never been, saw something I had never seen and heard something I had never heard. Lakeway is a community on the shore of Lake Travis, west of Austin. Basically built around a golf course, there isn't a straight piece of road in the place. Lakeway Resort is on a hillside overlooking the lake, which means you have to negotiate all the hilly, curvy streets to get ...
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So since my last blog I have been to two more great concerts. The first being Pete Yorn in Tulsa at Cains Ballroom (seriously, if you haven't seen this venue you should make a point to.) Pete put on a great show and so did the opener Minibar. The second was my favorite band of all time Fastball this past Saturday night in Fort Worth, TX. They played an even amount of songs from every album and eve
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Yesterday I visited a place I had never been, saw something I had never seen and heard something I had never heard. Lakeway is a community on the shore of Lake Travis, west of Austin. Basically built around a golf course, there isn't a straight piece of road in the place. Lakeway Resort is on a hillside overlooking the lake, which means you have to negotiate all the hilly, curvy streets to get ...
More >
So since my last blog I have been to two more great concerts. The first being Pete Yorn in Tulsa at Cains Ballroom (seriously, if you haven't seen this venue you should make a point to.) Pete put on a great show and so did the opener Minibar. The second was my favorite band of all time Fastball this past Saturday night in Fort Worth, TX. They played an even amount of songs from every album and eve
More >
| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 This Is Not My Life |
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| 2 You're an Ocean |
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| 3 Goodbye |
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| 4 Love Is Expensive and Free |
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| 5 Vampires |
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| 6 Wind Me Up |
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| 7 Morning Star |
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| 8 Time |
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| 9 Dark Street |
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| 10 Funny How It Fades Away |
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| 11 Don't Give up on Me |
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| 12 Whatever Gets You On |
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Click to purchase…
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 "The Harsh Light of Day")
