Members
Miles
Zuniga- Vocals, Guitar
Tony
Scalzo - Vocals, Bass
Joey
Shuffield - Drums
Discography
Make
Your Mama Proud - 1996 Hollywood
All
The Pain That Money Can Buy - 1998 Hollywood
Official
Biography
With
sophomore album All the Pain Money Can Buy, the Austin, Texas, trio known
as Fastball fulfill the potential of their 1996 debut, Make Your Mama Proud.
By taking an altogether broader view of bright pop hooks and dark lyrical
themes, Fastball has amplified their sound beyond the trademark three-minute
outbursts of fuzz guitar and staccato lyrics. On All the Pain Money Can
Buy, horns, vintage synths, and skewed sonics are all fair game.
“It’s all about taking risks,” says vocalist/guitarist Miles Zuniga. “This
time out, we’re going for something a little more expansive and a bit more
mysterious. We didn’t worry about what other people were going to think,
we just wanted to make a personal statement with our music.”
g
There
are 13 memorable cuts on All the Pain Money Can Buy, each track demonstrating
Fastball’s gift for sharp hooks and trenchant lyrics. The album’s artful
arrangements, keyboard embellishments, and stylistic variety display growth
from an already impressive position of strength. By alternating jangle-crunch
rock ‘n’ roll (“Fire Escape,” “Warm Fuzzy Feeling,” “Damaged Goods”) with
gorgeous introspective numbers (“Sweetwater, Texas,” “Slow Drag”), All
the Pain Money Can Buy is both rich in texture and generous in its scope.
g
Evenly
dividing the writing chores between them, Zuniga and bassist/vocalist Tony
Scalzo have created songs which somehow manage to mingle obsessive beauty,
not-so-quiet desperation, and fragile punch-drunk optimism. Scalzo’s
“The Way” tells the true story of an elderly Texas couple who headed out
in an RV to a family reunion but never quite made it. Zuniga’s “Sweetwater,
Texas” focuses on the entrapment of growing up in a small town in the middle
of nowhere, wide open and lonely. Of “Warm Fuzzy Feeling,” Scalzo says,
“It’s about a friend of ours, the 16-year-old singer in a band called Radish.
The press hyped him to a ridiculous extent and then people turned on him.”
Two of the standouts here—Scalzo’s “G.O.D. (Good Old Days)” and Zuniga’s
“Which Way to the Top?”—underscore the album’s depth. Says Scalzo, “With
the songs I write, every note is deliberate. And although I like a very
tight sound, this is an album with several layers.”
Driven
by a relentlessly catchy rhythmic swing and ballsy horn arrangement, “G.O.D.
(Good Old Days)” wraps bittersweet drugstore cowboy reminiscences in a
pure pop vehicle. And with its vintage soul/funk vibe, “Which Way to the
Top?” takes on an entirely new dimension when guest vocalist Poe joins
in. “She was working in the studio next door,” recalls Scalzo, “and we
asked her to sing on the song.” “I sang a harmony for her,” adds Zuniga,
“she made a couple of changes and immediately nailed it. Then she
freestyled over the bridge section, and the whole thing came out great.”
g
Ultimately,
All the Pain Money Can Buy (produced by Julian Raymond) reflects a maturation—a
willingness by the entire band to pace themselves and fully delve into
each song, in contrast to the breathless, breakneck velocity which had
been the band’s trademark since forming in Austin in late 1994. “We’re
an extremely diplomatic band,” laughs Scalzo. “We’re comfortable
taking the role of sideman on each other’s songs. I’ve never been happier
in a band than in this one.” Adds Zuniga, “While our combined tastes are
extremely eclectic, we’re very much on the same wavelength when it comes
to creating our own music.”
g
The
trio first got together when Austin native and ex-Wild Seeds drummer Joey
Shuffield introduced Zuniga (who grew up in Laredo, TX) to Scalzo, an expatriate
from Orange County, CA’s punk scene. Calling themselves Magneto USA, the
group caused a sensation in the Texas region and landed a deal with Hollywood
Records, changing their name to Fastball shortly before releasing their
1996 debut album, Make Your Mama Proud.
g
With
All the Pain Money Can Buy, Fastball’s cavalier attitude and creativity
simultaneously reach new heights. “You know what?” laughs Scalzo, “the
whole rock music thing reminds me of the film ‘Boogie Nights.’ The movie’s
underlying theme is that people tend to believe what they’re doing is really
important. To me, rock ‘n’ roll is just one step up from being a porn star.
I don’t do it because it possesses any earth-shaking importance. I do it
because it’s fun and makes me feel good. And, to be honest, I can’t imagine
not doing it.”
All
the Pain Money Can Buy—pleasure and pain never felt so good.
Web
Sites
Official
Fastball Site (includes Video and Audio)
Almost
Official Fastball Site (The is a great site with more Fast Ball content
than you can shake a stick at.)
The
Official Fastball Tribute Page
(A
new fan page with Member Bios, band facts, etc. Check it out!)
UBL
(the only place to find links to band pages) |
