Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1996…

#9 – Fountains of Wayne – Fountains of Wayne

It was power pop band Fountains of Wayne’s second album, 1999’s Utopia Parkway, that brought them to my attention, but after falling in love with that one I quickly sought out their debut and found it equally thrilling.

This collection of a dozen tight, smart pop rock songs is a perfect encapsulation of the talent and ingenuity of band leaders Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger. Every track is catchy and fun, but none of them feel tossed off. There is an attention to craft that was evident on all of the band’s future work.

That’s impressive given the story behind the album’s creation. According to Collingwood:

Basically, we started all this by writing a bunch of titles on bar napkins and trying to get the other guy to laugh. We’d get drunk and just sit there writing and laughing. We wound up with a list of hundreds of titles. Then we’d decide between the two of us who was going to take which song, and then meet the next night and see what we’d come up with.

That process resulted in an immensely satisfying pop album, a testament to both men’s songwriting prowess.

They would go on to make the even better Utopia Parkway and Welcome Interstate Managers, but this self-titled debut is worth seeking out.