Fountains of Wayne finally managed to score that big hit single their fans always knew they had in them when "Stacy's Mom" became a fluke hit a few months after the release of their third album, 2003's Welcome Interstate Mangers. Anybody worried that success had spoiled the power pop quartet shouldn't find their long-awaited fourth album, Traffic and Weather -- its title song a nifty ploy to get drive-time radio plugs, but also fitting right into the Jersey roadside themes of the titles -- a disappointment, nor should it offer much in way of surprises. Perhaps the slight traces of a disco-ock beat on the opening track/lead single, "Someone to Love," shows some evidence of copping to modern trends, but Fountains of Wayne still remain devotees of classic pop -- usually guitar-driven power pop, but they'll spike that with some Bacharach horns or country-rock if the mood strikes them. If the sound is unabashedly, even defiantly classicist, that's balanced by Adam Schlesinger's obsession with chronicling the weird incidental byroads of modern America in his lyrics. He packs odd, telling details into each of his songs, whether it's how the disaffected, lonely photo retoucher in "Someone to Love" spends her Thursdays watching King of Queens or how the jealous narrator in "This Better Be Good" notices the light blue Dockers on the guy who is holding the hand of his girlfriend. Even if they're often used in the service of joke setups or punch lines, such details give the songs weight and help Fountains of Wayne seem contemporary when their music is grounded in the '60s and '70s and could have been released anytime in the last 20 years; the dance beats underpinning the title song sound like /p>
ew wave, while the synths and phased vocals on the quite wonderful on-the-run-from-loan-sharks tale "Strapped for Cash" brings to mind early-'80s AOR (a fact underscored by the "heart attack-ack-ack-ack" reference to Billy Joel's "Movin' Out"). Such lyrical and musical flourishes keep Traffic and Weather from sounding too similar to previous FOW platters, but there is something missing here: a truly knockout single, along the lines of "Radiation Vibe," "Stacey's Mom," or even "Maureen" from their B-sides comp, Out of State Plates (or for that matter, "Pop Goes My Heart," the Schlesinger-written Wham! homage for Music and Lyrics that was on the charts at the time of the release of Traffic and Weather). It's sturdy, well-written power pop, but it falls prey to some of the faults of craftsmanlike pop -- mainly, it's possible to hear the craft behind the pop instead of just getting sucked into the sugar rush of the melodies. Even so, Traffic and Weather is hardly a bad record, and should satisfy anyone who has loved Fountains of Wayne before, even if it doesn't quite excite them.
Linkin Park has done it again: a new album, "new" songs...I haven't actually picked up the album, because I expect to hear the same old crap again: something about how Chester Bennington hates himself or that he can't be what he was before. I've heard "What I've Done" [not my own fault, though - it's inescapable on the radio] and although it sounds just like a snazzy new version of the old stuf...
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I found out about Fountains Of Wayne in 2003, about the same time that many other people did, but for a different reason. A friend at work had been listening to them for years, and recommended them along with a few other bands such as the Wondermints and Shack. I listened to the recommended songs, and loved their suburban guitar-pop. And right around the same time Stacy's Mom became a bit of a ...
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While I'm rarely in favor of a band using lyrics to try to trick you in to believing that they live in a different universe where emotions are more powerful and love is deeper and there are no brands names or proper nouns, I'm even less in favor of a band using lyrics to remind me that they live in the same time and civilization as I do by name dropping pop culture references and winking asides...
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Progressive Pop Pundits spin their wheels or, _Welcome Interstate Managers_ the outtakesIf you lived in North Jersey in the late 90's and liked new rock, you probably liked Fountains of Wayne. Alot. They were like your own low fi personal possesion, passed around between you and your friends like a secret that made you blush and smile when you heard it.. You drove into the city for shows, kn...
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I set out to develop a theme show around what I call the new disco. I trashed the original set list and just included streetlab and as per my usual though I mix it up in this podcast with some golden vinyl nuggets so it's not your regular saturday night fever.Older stuff in set: Trio, JSBX, bubblemen, bauhous, House of Pain, The Pogues and Red KrossRelatively new stuff in setThe Slats, Streetl...
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While I'm rarely in favor of a band using lyrics to try to trick you in to believing that they live in a different universe where emotions are more powerful and love is deeper and there are no brands names or proper nouns, I'm even less in favor of a band using lyrics to remind me that they live in the same time and civilization as I do by name dropping pop culture references and winking asides...
More >
Progressive Pop Pundits spin their wheels or, _Welcome Interstate Managers_ the outtakesIf you lived in North Jersey in the late 90's and liked new rock, you probably liked Fountains of Wayne. Alot. They were like your own low fi personal possesion, passed around between you and your friends like a secret that made you blush and smile when you heard it.. You drove into the city for shows, kn...
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You know what I am talking about: You hear a new track somewhere... anywhere. There are two different ways this happens:In this first particular case, I was outside at First Thursday for a little, and there was a cool-sounding song playing while the band was setting up. I emailed myself the chorus lyrics and went about my buisness. So I came in to work today and googled the lyrics, and the song...
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Again and again and again and again. do it again.
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Linkin Park has done it again: a new album, "new" songs...I haven't actually picked up the album, because I expect to hear the same old crap again: something about how Chester Bennington hates himself or that he can't be what he was before. I've heard "What I've Done" [not my own fault, though - it's inescapable on the radio] and although it sounds just like a snazzy new version of the old stuf...
More >
So if you can remember back to a few years ago, you might recall a very annoying song titled, "Stacy's Mom." This song was in fact, done by New York professional pop-sters Fountains of Wayne.For those of you who stopped at "this song is so stupid and so annoying" and failed to realize almost every music publication gave the parent album to the single "Welcome Interstate Managers" five out of f...
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I found out about Fountains Of Wayne in 2003, about the same time that many other people did, but for a different reason. A friend at work had been listening to them for years, and recommended them along with a few other bands such as the Wondermints and Shack. I listened to the recommended songs, and loved their suburban guitar-pop. And right around the same time Stacy's Mom became a bit of a ...
More >
Dear SIRIUS DJs (mp3Js?) (m4aJS?),I would like to begin by saying thank you for finally curbing your appetite for all things Ween. This was, I'm sure, a lapse of judgment and I am glad to see the universe straightening itself out.I, and several colleagues, have noticed, however, an increase in your "spinning" Fountains of Wayne songs over your satellite airwaves. Please stop. This is not 'OK.' ...
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I set out to develop a theme show around what I call the new disco. I trashed the original set list and just included streetlab and as per my usual though I mix it up in this podcast with some golden vinyl nuggets so it's not your regular saturday night fever.Older stuff in set: Trio, JSBX, bubblemen, bauhous, House of Pain, The Pogues and Red KrossRelatively new stuff in setThe Slats, Streetl...
More >
| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Someone to Love |
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| 2 '92 Subaru |
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| 3 Yolanda Hayes |
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| 4 Traffic and Weather |
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| 5 Fire in the Canyon |
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| 6 This Better Be Good |
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| 7 Revolving Dora |
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| 8 Michael and Heather at the Baggage Claim |
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| 9 Strapped for Cash |
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| 10 I-95 |
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| 11 The Hotel Majestic |
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| 12 Planet of Weed |
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| 13 New Routine |
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| 14 Seatbacks and Tray Tables |
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 "Traffic and Weather")
