The Random iTunes Fairy really likes Fountains of Wayne. Today’s post is the fifth Random Weekend selection in the past year, and the second this month.
I don’t keep stats on which artists show up the most on Random Weekends (though now I’m tempted) but I have to believe Fountains of Wayne are up there, especially as a percentage of their total songs in my library.
One of the reasons I love Fountains of Wayne is that their lyrics are so straight-forward and relatable.
They write about people who might live in your neighborhood, pass by you on the highway, sit in the cubicle next to yours at work.
But today’s random SOTD, ‘Cold Comfort Flowers’ from the band’s last album, Sky Full of Holes, is a different ballgame.
I don’t know if Fountains of Wayne have ever written a bad song.
They’ve certainly written better ones than others, and they have a tendency to put too many songs on their albums, but pound for pound and note for note I’d put Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger’s songwriting chops up there against anybody’s.
One of the things I love about Fountains of Wayne is their eclectic subject matter.
It seems 85% of songs I hear these days are about finding love or losing love. Worthy topics, no doubt, and topics that have resonated since a caveman wrote the first song and will resonate when we’re writing songs in space.
But I like character sketch songs just as much, the kind Ben Folds, Randy Newman and, yes, Fountains of Wayne write so well.
The Random iTunes Fairy must have read the blog this week and developed a hankering for some Fountains of Wayne.
This track is from Disc Two of the band’s 2005 collection of rarities and B-sides, Out-of-State Plates. Like most albums of its sort, this one is padded with non-essential tracks. It has a few memorable moments, such as new single ‘Maureen‘ and a deadpan cover of Britney Spears’ ‘…Baby One More Time.’
Meet Me In Montauk 