review-long comparison to the Beatles<\/a>, albums like Rubber Soul<\/i> and Revolver <\/i>remain strong influences on their work.\u00a0 They love a good hook, their vocal arrangements are always clever, and in the latter-day reformation period, they\u2019re employing dual lead vocals more than ever.\u00a0 Scalzo and Zuniga are also frequently co-writing songs now, which they rarely if ever did in the band\u2019s earlier days, bringing an ever-stronger combination of Zuniga\u2019s essential rock drive and Scalzo\u2019s gift for catchy melodies.<\/p>\nAlbum opener \u201cAll I Was Looking For Was You\u201d is a classic single \u2013 hooky as anything, with a strong chorus, a tight arrangement and great playing.\u00a0 It\u2019s also one of their sunniest songs ever, a tune about searching all around for happiness and finding it when you\u2019re not looking, with the person who was already at your side.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Malcontent (This Modern World)\u201d harks back to earlier Fastball laments, a partly resigned, partly acid-tongued critique of the current, superficial, celebrity-obsessed era: \u201cI\u2019m tired of living in the modern world \/ With pretty boys and plastic girls \/ Broken hearts, vanity\u2019s the disease \/ It really doesn\u2019t mean a thing to me.\u201d\u00a0 (For good measure they throw on a reference to \u201cThe Way\u201d \u2013 \u201cI hear my music on the radio \/ What\u2019s that song from long ago they\u2019re still playing \/ Is it saying anything to you?\u201d)\u00a0 Title track \u201cLittle White Lies\u201d builds up a nice head of steam on a full tank of self-loathing and indignation, nailing in a three-minute pop song the way humans self-deceive when we want to see something that isn\u2019t there, or want not to see something that is.\u00a0 At the end it powers to a strong finish that drops right into \u201cMono To Stereo,\u201d an upbeat cut with a very catchy, slightly sing-songy hook that hums along with handclaps, acoustic strums and all measure of odds and ends designed to get your feet tapping.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cHow Did I Get Here?\u201d is a fun, quirky little existential pop blues, underscoring the fact that this is a more mature and philosophical Fastball than before.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll Always Have Paris\u201d is a raucous snarkfest with some genuine thump — a Zuniga specialty \u2013 but ironically, it\u2019s the one after \u201cWe\u2019ll Always Have Paris\u201d that features true French flavor.\u00a0 \u201cAngelie,\u201d complete with accordion, is a dark tale of obsessive love, showing the same flair for putting a dark, exotic twist on their basic power-pop template as was heard on tunes like Harsh Light Of Day<\/i>\u2019s \u201cLove Is Expensive And Free\u201d and \u201cVampires.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s Got The Rain\u201d brings a certain surreal artiness to the proceedings, a bluesy, piano-based tune that thrums along behind dueling lead vocals, with the chorus taking on a sunny cast before the bridge goes all spacey and psychedelic.\u00a0 In a subtle shift from past albums, Scalzo plays a lot of guitar here, with studio hand Bruce Hughes handling bass, while Zuniga does double-duty as producer for most of these cuts.\u00a0 Ironically, the only song Hughes doesn\u2019t play on here is the only one where he earns a co-writing credit, the two-minute post-breakup hookfest \u201cRampart Street.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhite Noise\u201d lets the boys unleash a little more aggression with both twin guitars and Shuffield\u2019s drums hitting a little heavier, but again the core is a good hook, a singalong lyric and steady drive.\u00a0 \u201cNoise\u201d drops right into the mellow closer \u201cSoul Radio,\u201d which starts out as wistful piano ballad and does a nice build, adding guitar in the third chorus to give it extra punch as it builds to a swirling late-Beatles close, complete with keening violin.<\/p>\n
Little White Lies<\/i> showcases a group that\u2019s managed to mature musically and lyrically without losing the essential character of their sound.\u00a0 They are as fun and hooky and sharply witty as ever, regardless of whether mainstream music buyers are paying attention.\u00a0 If you miss this one, it\u2019s your loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":30319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6028],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41974","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-fastball","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53519,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41974\/revisions\/53519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41974"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41974"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}