Fastball: All The Pain Money Can Buy

While a good song can aid an otherwise mediocre album, a great song can kill it. It may not be fair to describe Fastball's "The Way"—currently in heavy rotation at a radio station near you—as the only song worth hearing on All The Pain Money Can Buy. But it is just about the only song worth hearing more than once. And what a song it is: Fast-paced and catchy, with a distinctly Elvis Costello-ish delivery and not a trace of crappy third-wave ska, "The Way" is potent enough and just different enough to pretty much ensure that it will be played to death. It's just too bad the rest of the record doesn't run deeper. A trio from Austin, Fastball features two singer/songwriter types. But, for the most part, All The Pain Money Can Buy seems to try to maintain a steady level of listenability regardless of who's behind the mic. From "Fire Escape" through "Sweetwater, Texas," there's very little here that couldn't come from any above-average bar band. It's all pleasant enough, but because the opening track has raised expectations, most of the album falls as flat as the filler on a Huey Lewis album.