In 2008 they busted out of the box and easily reached first with their “Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails”. The Baseball Project was on base and immediately posed a threat to go further.
In 2011, they moved on to second with some wildness aptly called “High And Inside”. They were halfway home. Three years later in 2014, the quintet of Big Stars moved on down the line to the aptly titled “3rd“, an epic double dip delight of craftsmanship and savvy. And there they stayed. For nine long years at the hot corner, but we’re happy to say that The Baseball Project is finally coming home, scoring big and touching ’em all with their fourth album “Grand Salami Time”.
It’s the fourth album from this baseball-obsessed band featuring Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey and half of REM. Even if you’re not a fan of the national pastime of America,
But I did enjoy Friday Night Lights, The Natural and Field Of Dreams. The Baseball Project is the alt-rock supergroup led by Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate) and Scott McCaughey (The Minus Five, Young Fresh Fellows) that also features R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Mike Mills, along with drummer Linda Pitmon.
“Grand Salami Time” is The Baseball Project’s fourth album, first in nine years, and and given the “round the bases” implications of the title, maybe their last. Like their three previous albums, all the songs are about the American national pastime, at least tangentially, and this time they’ve got a couple pinch-hitters on deck in Stephen McCarthy (The Long Ryders) and Steve Berlin (Los Lobos).
Music nerds will find stuff to love, too: “Disco Demolition” tells the infamous and regrettable true story of July 12th, 1979 at Chicago’s Comiskey Park when thousands of disco records were blown up as part of a Major League Baseball promotion that ended in a riot. You’ll certainly get a lot more out of “Grand Salami Time” if you are a baseball follower. The album was recorded at Mitch Easter’s fabled Fidelitorium Studios in Kernersville, North Carolina, with the entire band performing live together in the same room, a joyous experience that seemed impossible to imagine only one year before. Mitch adds guitar on a few tracks
The Fat Angel Sings 