Fastball

Little White Lies

More than a decade has passed since Fastball’s platinum breakthrough, 1998’s All the Pain Money Can Buy. The local trio’s fifth studio LP, Little White Lies, doesn’t signal a comeback but rather a coming of age. Frontmen Tony Scalzo and Miles Zuniga are at their most engaging and affecting, perfectly complementing each other via the title track’s modern decadence and opening summer crush of “All I Was Looking for Was You.” The pair’s maturity as songwriters is exemplified by Beatles-esque romp “We’ll Always Have Paris,” the classic AM radio heartbreak in “How Did I Get Here?,” and the slightly psychedelic “Always Never,” which packs in a few tempo changes and a Who-like breakdown of Moog and violin. “The Malcontent (the Modern World)” takes an alternate route away from “The Way,” fitting considering Fastball just penned its strongest album after previously releasing a greatest hits compilation.

***.5

This article appears in April 17 • 2009.

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