Fastball

The Profile

Fastball is an American power-pop/alt-rock trio from Austin, Texas, formed in 1994 by Tony Scalzo, Miles Zuniga, and Joey Shuffield. They broke through with the 1998 hit The Way from All the Pain Money Can Buy and have continued releasing albums including The Harsh Light of Day, Keep Your Wig On, Step Into Light, and The Help Machine.

Reviews highlight Painting The Corners: The Best of Fastball (2002), drawing from Make Your Mama Proud (1996), All the Pain Money Can Buy (1998), and The Harsh Light of Day (2000). The Harsh Light of Day is noted as artistically mature yet commercially underperforming (best U.S. chart position 97; ~85,000 copies), and Keep Your Wig On (2004, Rykodisc) is praised for stylistic growth and strong songwriting.

Two DeBaser reviews by Starblazer celebrate Fastball’s hook-laden power-pop and stubborn integrity. The 2002 best-of shows the band was far more than The Way. Keep Your Wig On (2004) is praised as a mature, exploratory return on Rykodisc, with songwriting peaks and stylistic range. Overall sentiment: respectful admiration over hype.