2/5
Trust me on this one: In about a year, you’ll hear Little White Lies in a feel-good Fox Searchlight teen dramedy, and damn near nowhere else. Fifteen years after dropping surf-rock debut ‘The Way,’ Fastball’s gone softer and sweeter than a pack of Peeps ‘mdash; and swallowing all 12 tracks is just about as sickening as gorging on the entire Easter dozen.
First, two young lovers lock eyes from across the room. As the determined buck desperately pushes through the crowd to reach her, Tony Scalzo sighs, ‘All I was looking for was you.’ A bouncy, major-key harmony keeps us warm and fuzzy as they smooch for the first time. But like any romantic comedy, its make-out scenes are the only interesting parts, and acoustic guitars and fuzzed-out synths are layered into one big tuned-out soundtrack.
Just then, disaster strikes! Our hero stalks away, his tantrum backed by strings plucked with snarky twang, as ‘Little White Lies’ convinces us that he’s better off without her: ‘I don’t miss you all that much/ Don’t miss your kiss, don’t miss your touch.’ It’s here that Scalzo displays some much-craved restraint, matching crashing drums alongside the only chorus we’ll remember after the credits roll.
Later, our hero shoves airport security aside and yells his lover’s name ‘mdash; with one foot on the plane, she turns, hesitates and runs back to him. A piano chirps out the melody of ‘Soul Radio’: ‘You and I, we scream, we cry … Who knows why we’re here, we’re gone.’ Into the sunset, organs swell and a kid runs his hand down the length of a keyboard ‘mdash; and, suddenly, the final kiss flips from triumphant to cheesy and overblown.
All the filler between scenes makes us wish for a remote control. But most are catchy enough ‘mdash; ‘Looking For’ is a definite high point ‘mdash; that you’ll probably play them more than once, like it or not’ (even if you have to sneak into the theater).