Baseball Project, Vol. 2: High and Inside

The Baseball Project doesn't do fluff songs on the subject, though, and the songs on this second outing, like they were on the first, are intelligently written and arranged, running the full spectrum of emotions that baseball can inspire in a fan, and in so doing, the best of the songs rise above novelty to grapple with the passions and difficulties of life itself.

Volume 2 finds their passionate fandom and astute study at work once again, producing homage and history that ranges across a roster of players past (Mark "the Bird" Fidrych) and present (Ichiro Suzuki), famous (Reggie Jackson) and obscure (Carl Mays, the only player in major league history to kill a man with a pitch).

Volume II: High and Inside picks up exactly where its revelatory predecessor left off, but this time welcoming a few more indie-world guest stars, having a few more stories to tell, and reveling in slightly more robust production.

Irreverent, funny, and ruefully sad, High and Inside will not appeal to everyone. But if the intersection of baseball and rock 'n' roll" is meaningful to you, it's a stellar reminder of why the game and the power chords still matter.

Journeymen that they are, though, McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows) and Wynn (ex-Dream Syndicate) understand the poignant vindication in being remembered at all.

The sophomore LP from Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Linda Pitmon, and Peter Buck picks up where 2008's Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails left off, mixing musical styles to their song histories of the pastime's heroes and goats (from Bill Buckner to Mark Fidrych to Pete Rose).

Finely etched narratives telltales of aging wunderkinds and tragic figures, the deeds of those famed and flawed, while the music moves in manifold directions, from powerpop to scuzz rock to alt country. [Jun 2011, p.106]

You don't need a working knowledge of baseball to appreciate this second installment of true-life sporting tales from Steve Wynn, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Linda Pitmon. [Jun 2011, p.92]