Fountains of Wayne is the first ‘Pure Pop’ representative in my personal musical genome project. They have pretty much perfected the art of power pop, synthesizing a host of influences into a supremely pleasing package.
My daughters are particularly drawn to Fountains of Wayne’s music. It started with ‘Hey Julie’ and ‘Stacy’s Mom’ then expanded to include ‘Troubled Times,’ ‘Hackensack’ and ‘Bright Future in Sales.’ And they didn’t know at first that all of these songs were by the same group.
Half of the albums on this list of twenty represent my first exposure to the artists who recorded them.
I don’t think that’s a coincidence. So often when I discover someone new, the album that served as my introduction remains my favorite. In part, that’s because the album grabbed me for a reason, but I think it’s also something akin to the blinding blush of first love.
Top Ten Songs of 2011 – #4
Fountains of Wayne has been churning out pitch-perfect pop songs for 15 years now, and in 2011’s Sky Full of Holes they might just have released their best collection yet.
This was a more tightly focused effort than their previous albums — less of a kitchen sink approach — and as a result, more satisfying overall.
Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger are the Rodney Dangerfield of popular music. Their band, Fountains of Wayne, is often dismissed as a novelty act or a one-hit wonder when actually it is among the smartest, most talented pop outfits around.
Blame ‘Stacy’s Mom,’ the infectious hit single from the band’s 2003 album, Welcome Interstate Managers. That song, and its Rachel Hunter-starring video, struck gold more as a novelty than an example of fine songwriting craft. Never mind that it is an expertly crafted song, and that the album it comes from is chock full of tunes even better than that one.
Fountains of Wayne’s fourth, and most recent, album is 2007’s Traffic and Weather. It’s similar in tone and content to their previous three although, for my money, the songwriting isn’t quite as strong.
Traffic and Weather continues the FOW pattern of turning life’s mundane details into pop art. The album features a song about a guy crushing on a pretty teller while waiting in line at the DMV; one about buying a ’92 Subaru (with an “alarm system so confusing we can’t even get in”); another about a drive down I-95 to meet your girlfriend.
Meet Me In Montauk 