Fountains of Wayne followed up the success of its 2003 album Welcome Interstate Managers, and surprise hit single ‘Stacy’s Mom,’ with a double album called Out-of-State Plates, filled with odds and ends they’d amassed over their career to that point.
Albums like this are usually quick cash grabs or contract fillers, and this one is no exception. It is entirely unremarkable, featuring songs that were B-sides for good reasons.
It’s been five years since Fountains of Wayne’s last album release, Sky Full of Holes.
Quick visits to the band’s website, social media accounts and Wikipedia page reveal very little information about their current activities. They don’t appear to have split up but neither are they touring or recording. I hope they haven’t split up, because these guys are among the bets pop songwriters going.
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.’
Two years after Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne released a double-CD compilation of B-sides and unreleased tracks titled Out-of-State Plates. The collection was a bit of a disappointment, as those things go, stuffed with novelty tracks that probably would have better off hidden.
This album backs up my observation that Welcome Interstate Managers is about four songs too long. It seems Fountains of Wayne is a band that hits big when they hit but otherwise has a little trouble connecting with the ball. To use a football analogy, they’re like a wide receiver who makes a lot of big plays but also drops a lot of easy passes. (That reminds me of Buddy Ryan’s famous comment about Cris Carter — meant as a criticism: “All he does is catch touchdowns.”)
Meet Me In Montauk 