KEEP YOUR WIG ON BY FASTBALL (ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITES)

Keep Your Wig On By Fastball

Since 2000, I'm guessing more than 50 percent of blogs and articles about the Austin, TX trio known as Fastball begin something like this: Fastball is a prominent late 90's band that is most famous for the hits "The Way" and "Out Of My Head."  It probably irritates the band to no end.  It was so long ago and such statements suggest that the band ran out of fuel and has nothing more to offer.  It was also a period of great tension between singer/songwriters Tony Scalzo and Miles Zuniga.  Scalzo composed the aforementioned hits and while Zuniga did have himself a top 20 hit with "Fire Escape," he has admitted, since then, that there was jealousy.  

Let's get on the same page...

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Scalzo and Zuniga weren't even friends.  They barely knew each other.  It was a partnership not a bond.  But their partnership didn't extend to songwriting collaborations.  Miles did his songs and Tony did his.  And then after their platinum record went into the vault of time and their subsequent release didn't do nearly as well, Fastball broke up for a short time.

Everything changed in 2003.  The two songwriters sat down, became friends and began an entirely new process of co-writing together.  And the effort really shows on 2004's Keep Your Wig On, which was released on the Warner Music Group's subsidiary label Rykodisc.  If there's any indication that the band is on a major label on Keep Your Wig On, it's that literally every single one of the album's 12 songs is filled with such strong hooks and assertive performances that they all could be on the radio.  And I'm not kidding.  The results on this pop/rock album may not reinvent the wheel, but they are absolutely unreal. 

Keep Your Wig On opens with the appropriately short "Shortwave," which serves as a reminder of the band's previous commercial success.  The harmonies are close and the lyrics detail hearing your hit on the radio—"the strangest music"—and realizing that you're in Oklahoma and "it's too close to home"—aka Austin,TX—and it probably doesn't mean your career is about to have a rebirth.  This song seamlessly leads into a wonderful gem called "Lou-ee Lou-ee," which borrows a hook from "Brother Louie" by Stories, but succeeds in creating a whole new one, in the process.  

And from there, Fastball never misses it's mark.  Tony Scalzo sounds irresitable on "Drifting Away," the McCartney-esque "I Get High" and "'Til I Get It Right," the best song about going to the record store, which features a spectacular, intriguing and musical guitar solo by Miles Zuniga.  It should rank as one of the best of the decade.  Absolutely expert playing.  When Zuniga sings, he sounds like a street smart combination of Lou Reed and John Lennon.  There is no better example of this than on "Perfect World" and the album closer "Red Light."  But he sounds downright sweet on the Lennon-esque "Someday."

Keep Your Wig On's best and most inspired song is "Our Misunderstanding."  It's a truly incredible and original song about a breakup, which unselfishly places the blame on both parties.  It's the first song I've personally heard to address a breakup so objectively and I'm confident that most songwriter's will love this one.   It's a reminder that Scalzo and Zuniga are veteran hitmakers.  

Fastball may not have experienced a career rebirth as indicated by the small commercial results of Keep Your Wig On, but artistically they have acheived something otherworldly.  It's a smart and creative pop/rock record which will move any serious music listener who listens to it.

 I try my best not to make big absurd claims on www.jamiedoesmusic.com, but I've been waiting to figure out how to review this album for a very long time.  To be totally transparent, I didn't want to mess this one up.  I listen to a lot of music, and I've determined that Keep Your Wig On is not only criminally overlooked, it is one of the best albums of the previous decade.  I can't recommend it any higher.  

Keep Your Wig On By Fastball

SINGLES GOING STEADY: "BEATLE" BY TRIP SHAKESPEARE

"Beatle" by the late Trip Shakespeare is one of the most inventive Beatle's tributes I've heard.  It contains bits of "Taxman," "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," "Hey Bulldog," "Birthday" and even the trademark "Hoos" that John, Paul and George made girls go crazy with when they first hit the scene.  And then there are so many other Beatle elements, which become less hidden with repeated listening.  

Sure, my description makes it sound totally derivative—and, in the most essential ways, it is—but the vocal melody and lyrics are totally original.  It's a little slice of 80's College Rock that feels both lively and sinister with lyrics like "let me crawl into your brain/let me crawl up in yourmind/be now bewitched, bewildered, bothered and wise/I will be a Beatle in your mind."  The goal is not to BE the Beatles.  It's to be "a Beatle in her mind."

In a way, Trip Shakespeare was tuning into most musicians desire's of seducing women with their music like the rock and roll legends they—and every other musician—were inspired by.  

"Beatle" was originally released on the band's 1986 independant release Applehead Man, several year before they were signed to A&M Records.  The studio version feels somewhat hollow and listless.  When you hear it—and see it— live, however, you can really see why so many people in the midwest went crazy for these guys.  Great stage presence.  

Check out Elaine Harris who plays drums standing up! Oh and of course, there's young future Grammy Winner Dan Wilson on the right, alternating between guitar, backing vocals and piano.  

"Beatle" by Trip Shakespeare (live at historic First Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 1989)

"Beatle" by Trip Shakespeare (Applehead Man)

Applehead Man (P.S. "Stop The Winter" and "Necklace" are two of my favorites.  Think Red Hot Chili Peppers mixed with REM/B-52s)

LOVERS AT LIGHTSPEED (EP) + BONUS SINGLES BY SUGAR GLYDER

Lovers At Lightspeed (EP) by Sugar Glyder

 Lovers At Lightspeed by Sugar Glyder is one of those rare sort of EPs that satisfies like a full album.  It packs muscular alternative rock songs into six diverse and exhilerating concoctions.  While a 30 second listen brings bands like Yellowcard to mind, Sugar Glyder is actually better and far more intriguing.  The band actually feels like a first cousin to bands like The Walkman, Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, Kings of Leon and at times even Radiohead.  Each song has so many layers that it's hard not to be impressed.   But layers and washes of instrumentation are only impressive if the songs are good and while these songs are sometimes a step behind those of the aforementioned bands, they do suggest a whole lot of promise.  

And the promise feels even more believable as you sink deeper into Lovers At Lightspeed.  While the first track, "Song Holiday" sounds like a punchy rollercoaster ride on a skateboard that borders on the line between solid and ordinary, "Deep Into Summer" is as smooth as it is beautiful and addicting.  And by the time you reach the hazy, snowy post-grunge of "The Work (And What May Come)" it becomes immensely clear that this band has a lot of raw melodic talents and plenty of integrity in the studio, crafting cool, druggy introductions and conclusions.  

Whether or not Sugar Glyder always hits a bullseye on Lovers At Lightspeed is sort of irrelevant, because this debut is quite listenable and very fun.  Yeah, music like this is nothing new, but few bands do it as well as Sugar Glyder.  I'll tell you one thing, there is a future for this band.  And as I listen to their two newest singles "Campfire" and "Lost In This Woods," I can say it again: There is a future for this band.  At the very least, Sirius XM's Alt Nation should take notice ASAP. 

Lovers At Lightspeed (EP) by Sugar Glyder

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