Yep Roc Records: Baseball Project Volume One: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails

New handle alert!..."The joyous chorus of “Ted ####### Williams”.

What happens when two great songwriters decide to focus their talents upon their favorite sport? You get the highly entertaining debut disc from The Baseball Project, Volume One: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails. The album is the brainchild of Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate, Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3) and Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5, and R.E.M). The two musicians were longtime fans of each other’s work throughout the 80s but never met until the early 90s. Wynn recalls, “I honestly think the first time we met was side-by-side at the urinals at the Offramp in Seattle when I played there in 1992.” He adds, “Scott didn’t try to shake my hand.”

...The end result is an album that impresses not only with its depth of both widely known and obscure baseball lore, but with its melodic sensibility, walls of guitars, and catchy choruses. No, Frozen Ropes & Dying Quails does not require a PhD in pitching mechanics or membership in three fantasy leagues to enjoy on a purely musical level. The joyous chorus of “Ted ####### Williams” would probably compel Babe Ruth to sing along. “Broken Man” is about slugger Mark McGwire, yet anyone can identify with the semi-tragic tale of being built up and then being humiliated in public in such a brief span of time. And in “Jackie’s Lament”, Mr. Robinson’s trials while breaking baseball’s color barrier become an anthemic call to anyone who overcomes life’s obstacles.