renchant indie types will talk themselves hoarse over the fallaciousness of commercial acts versus the valor of underground acts. It’s one of the most achingly worn and inane lines of arguments lingering over music criticism. For the record, commercial success and artistic merit are not mutually exclusive. It is when acts become overly cognizant of certain perceived commercial strictures (three-minute songs, safe lyrics, firm backbeats, etc.) and create their art around those guidelines that artistic integrity tends to be sacrificed.

Keep Your Wig On’s twelve tracks aim to satisfy both camps, culling acts like CCR, The Black Crowes and even The Beatles for inspiration. But while they’re well-crafted songs, their emotional impact is surprisingly light. Considering that Fastball’s subject matter encompasses drug addiction, breakups and psychological illness, one would think they’d evoke a bit of empathy, but, quite contrarily, Keep Your Wig On is so cognizant of making itself radio-friendly, these potentially profound themes are rendered into little more than pat motifs.

The tracks that succeed are those which keep the subject matter relatively light, better complementing the dynamics of Fastball’s sound. “Perfect World” for example, a song about a girl who’s “always bitching about something”, is set to a foot-tapping, acoustic, harmonica-accentuated country groove. “Airstream”, as well, matches a twangy guitar ebb-and-flow with lyrics like “Free / I don’t want to be / Stuck in the city”. Great art this is not, but at least Fastball isn’t trying to pass it off as though it were.

Both lyrically and musically, Fastball fail to separate themselves from the pack. Clichés like “The momentum builds to a fever pitch” mar many of the songs here. It’s worth noting that, though dissonance can sometimes result in innovative and pleasing art, Fastball’s juxtaposition of their pop radio blueprint against seemingly emotive lyrics doesn’t fly. “’Til I Get It Right” is the only track long enough to stretch Fastball’s sound beyond their straightforward country/pop formula. But even this revelation is only modestly pleasing. The track runs beyond the usual three-minute statute of limitations, sure, but only because producer Mike McCarthy indulged the band in a long, saxophone-led rock-out. These Texans are hardly pushing their creative limits.

Fastball has all the markings of a band floundering in the shadow of their past commercial success. Best known for the 1998 hit “The Way”, the band seems determined to shrug off the one-hit-wonder label—and yet they remain irreconcilably commercial. On Keep Your Wig On, Fastball seem to be hedging their bets, incorporating the sounds of respected acts, but doing so in a way which is first and foremost radio-friendly. The end result is an album not without some pleasing elements. “Someday” rides solemn, understated guitar work, “Falling Upstairs” offers shades of Bright Eyes-esque xylophone flourishes and “Red Light” is a tip of the ten gallon hat to Salsa music. But until these guys decide to take their art seriously, they shouldn’t expect the rest of us to do so either.