**1/2 Fastball

THE HARSH LIGHT OF DAY

(Hollywood)

Fastball knocked around the rock trenches for years before scoring an unexpected hit with 1998's still-ubiquitous "The Way," which established their knack for genially inoffensive but catchy modern rock. The trio's third outing, The Harsh Light of Day, offers mostly more of the same. Fastball find inspiration in strange places, borrowing heavily from the early-'80s Marshall Crenshaw school of sweet, Beatles-y pop. They also pilfer from both Billy Joel ("Wind Me Up" is strongly reminiscent of his "Movin' Out") and Elvis Costello, to whom lead singer Miles Zuniga can bear an uncanny vocal resemblance. Fastball's albums have tended to be workmanlike and literal, the sort of recording where dogged earnestness stands in for inspiration. Here they try to be a little more adventurous, with mixed results -- the strings, the fleeting stab at mariachi ("Love Is Expensive and Free"), and the occasional attempts at edginess ("This Is Not My Life") don't jibe with the comforting blandness that has always been the band's hallmark.

-- Alison Stewart