Customer Reviews

Fountains of Wayne (US Release)

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4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

`Let me get this right', I stutter incredulously, `You mean to say that you DON'T own Fountains of Wayne's first CD?'

`What's the big deal?', you reply, a look of bemused detachment etched across your angular, but not unattractive, face, `I'm not big on Weezer-copy cats. I'll stick with the Blue album, thank-you-very-much.'

`I'll tell you the big deal!', I stammer, one hand clenched in a fist of rage, the other cradling a half-drunk bottle of IBC, `Fountains of Wayne is every bit as great as the legendary Blue album! The songs are just as catchy and well-crafted, the lyrics just as clever! You really owe it to yourself to give it a listen. Don't let your closed-mindedness deprive you of the aural pleasure being offered to you by Fountains of Wayne.'

`Okay, okay - you win,' you mutter resignedly, `I'll borrow your copy and give it a spin or two. Just don't expect me to love it the way you do.'

Well, guess what?! Just three weeks after the conversation detailed above took place, you couldn't thank me enough for turning you on to Fountains of Wayne. Honestly, no need to thank me - it makes me happy enough to see you singing along to `Survival Car' with that big ol' smile on your face.

That's what friends are for.

I can't pretend to know what you'll like, but I can tell you that of all the albums we've heard and like, this is one of perhaps three that my musician friends and I agree has not one bad track. If you are new to the band and want to try them out, you really should get this one first. Then if you like it, you'll probably find parts of the other albums that you enjoy. I doubt you'll like any as well as this one--the others just are not the same--that new thing included.

But will you like it? First, understand that FofW is hardly technically awe-inspiring. They play simple chords with simple melodies. If you like Weezer for this reason, or any number of other "fun" rock bands that know how to make a song that will stick in your head whistle-ready, there is a good chance you'll like this one. I enjoy complex music and all, but there is something to be said for a song that is simple but memorable in its own way. Here's a whole album of them.

Lyrics: I like how they are also simple--kind of a marriage of blue collar ideals, which is what the lyrics tend to touch on: those strange little quirks of suburbia and sort-of-urban nights and days, poem read in the light of a street lamp coming home from the party where the cute girl smiled at you finally. That sort of thing. Some characters in these lyrics: a fat biker with a hot girlfriend and crumbs in his beard, a guy who should stop cursing at girls (reasons given, then), a guy with an offer to ride in his "survival car," a girl that makes you want to break stuff and blame it on a stranger, etc. Fun.

Bottom line: my musician friends and I said, in turn, "Hmm, that's good stuff. Not landmark, but those are some cool songs."

Well, not quite, but the eponymous debut CD by Fountains of Wayne offers a catchy batch of songs with a synergetic effect. While it hints at full-fledged power pop at times, its saving grace is a generous helping of non-grungy alternative flavor (of course, it is alternative to the extent that it is power pop, which is never really fashionable anyway.) Songwriters Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood are not afraid to embrace the fact that they were high school losers, and they make particularly poignant observations about being so, as well as some keen insights into the love and work tribulations of their fellow twenty-somethings. Musically, they forgo (certainly not for the worse) the punkier elements of Weezer, but they also share many of their virtues: shiny production, quirky and occasionally silly sing-along lyrics, and loud, crunchy guitars. And while the CD may suffer slightly from a certain undernourishing quality that plagues almost all power pop, one can really only nitpick when the overall results are this good.

Several of the dozen songs on Fountains of Wayne fall into one (or both) of two categories: confrontational character studies and self-pitying personal laments. Of course, the distinction between these two categories isn't always completely obvious, and there are also times when they feel the pain of others. Their status as losers is evident in lyrics like "I wonder if he ever has cried, cause he couldn't get a date for the prom," and who else other than a couple of guys who weren't regularly getting some would think to say, "each time you curse at girls, you curse a little at yourself, don't you know a girl gets angry"? Their sympathy (or perhaps more precisely, empathy) for others is evident on the softly ominous "She's Got a Problem": "Every time she goes outside/She barely gets home alive/She's got a problem, and she's gonna do something dumb," and the 9 to 5 lament "Sick Day": "She's a hell of a girl, she's alone in the world/and she likes to say 'hey good lookin'/She's on her way, she takin' a sick day -- soon."

Granted, these lyrics are not terribly profound or innovative, but consider two things: 1) This genre -- alternative pop rock-- does not aim to be profound or innovative, and 2) while they may be neither, the sentiments expressed so simply here are rarely done so at all in popular music. I mean, "please don't rock me tonight, I'm not in the mood," coming from a guy? (Come on!) And how often does one hear lyrics like: "Joe Rey smokes at three/Barks like a pigeon and watches TV/He's cool...cool, cool, cooler than I am./He knows what I don't know/Got seventeen different words for snow that he signs/Signs to a deaf girl named Diane"? So while the lyrics are hardly pure poetry, they do have a refreshing originality and cleverness about them which makes the album worthy of repeated listenings in the hope of locating other such gems (such as the chorus of "Leave the Biker", which I will let you hear for yourself). The closest thing to a dud on the CD is "Survival Car," in which the high school loser tries too hard to be a superhero. However, the better songs that it is situated among allow it to slip by more or less unnoticed, and it is more disposable than flat out bad, and it will probably get stuck in your head whether you like it or not. Among the best songs which have not been quoted are the groovy opener "Radiation Vibe", the sing-along "I've Got A Flair", and the Simon & Garfunkel-ish closer "Everything's Ruined."

So, how successful is this CD as a whole? Well, the main goals of alternative pop rock (and power pop) are to be fun and catchy in heavy doses, and poignant in measured doses. Fountains of Wayne achieves all three of these goals in an admirable -- and thoroughly enjoyble -- fashion. It is not only a very promising debut, but a fine record by any standard. And if the hyperbolic quote from MOJO critic Dave DiMartino in the title of this review wins Fountians of Wayne listeners that it wouldn't otherwise have, then more power to it. Bottom line: it is great by virtue of its enjoyability.

When I first heard of the Fountains of Wayne on the radio, I was impressed. Their second album, entitled "Utopia Parkway" got me hooked right away, and so I had to go out and find their debut CD. I was pleasantly surprised that the contents of both their self-titled album and Utopia Parkway as being very mellow and innocent...sort of, sophomoric, if you will. Let's take my favorite song, "Leave the Biker", for example. "Oh, can't you see my world is falling apart? Baby, please leave the biker. Leave the biker, break his heart." What girl wouldn't leave her man for the sweet guy that would ever sing that to her? While the band is not a hard-rock, pump-it-up type band, it sure gets one's heart pumping. Let's take "Don't rock me tonight" for example, the song is not only witty and satirical, it also has the 70's elements of rock that makes one want to just go around and sing the song all day long. Of course, how could anyone write a review for FoW without mentioning "Everything's ruined"? Given a touch of the Beach Boy's "Surfer Girl" and blended with the elements of high-school love, the song is about a guy telling his dream girl to slow down with her activities with her boyfriend, because as we know, when it comes to teenage sexual relationships, "..one false move, baby, suddenly everything's ruined." This CD is a must for any music fan. :)

I'm too old to suddenly become a fan of a bunch of whipper-snappers like these Fountains of Wayne guys. It is but too true, I now own everything they've put out and I like practically all of it. I've been walking around with these songs cycling through my head for weeks. Ridiculous! It's too early for my second childhood.

Sink To The Bottom, Leave The Biker and Radiation Vibe; this album is full of feel good songs. In a bad mood? Push the power button of your cd player and there you go. I went to their concert in the Melkweg, Amsterdam in spring 2004 and I can tell you this: they rock! There's no obvious difference between their live performances and their tracks on cd.

Adam Schlesinger is a gifted song writer who brings the smile back on all your faces. Though not named, this album is worth a place in your cd player!

I have been a fan of FoW for almost seven years now. I received a Christmas ep from the band at my radio station and fell head over heals for their infectious and intellegent CHRISTMAS SONGS!?! I had to find out what this group was all about, so I bought this cd.

I have read many of the reviews here at Amazon, but few, if any, have mentioned that this music is PERFECTLY crafted power pop music. The guys of FoW are in the tradition of other popsters like...Todd Rundgren's 70's stuff, The Jam, The Cars, XTC, The Rasberry's, The Replacements, REM, ALEX CHILTON and Big Star, Super Drag, Muzzle, Cheap Trick, Superchunk, Rockpile and the Gods of pop, The Ramones. Ok, my list is getting long. Point is not too many great pop songs and pop bands still out there. Every single band I mentioned, including FoW, have written - OVER A LONG CAREER - perfect Power Pop. These guys are NOT a one hit wonder band, nee "The Wonders." Get the joke?

Look, there is not a weak song on this cd. Every song is perfect. Every song tells a great story. Every song is aurally exciting. You just aren't going to find a more fun, friendly and intellegent cd out there. FoW is the real deal. Buy this record. Then buy Utopia Parkway. Then buy Welcome Interstate Managers. You're on your own with getting the Christmas ep.

Added 10/28: I just interviewed Chris Collingwood. He said the "Alien" song from the Christmas ep was written for the band Hanson! I'm glad Hanson passed on it!eh

'The Beach Boys covering Nirvana' is how I described this disc to a friend, and that kinda says it all. The power chords are rocked up nicely on Joe Ray, Survival Car and Radiation Vibe, while the slower side of their repetoire (especially You Curse at Girls) is awesome too. But Sink to the Bottom is top, in fact its one of the best pop songs of the 90s. Please can we make this band huge. The humour in the lyrics is refreshing too, especially Leave the Biker, showing the group as a fun pop act way above the likes of NYSNC or Backstreet Boys. And did anyone else notice the extent to which Blur ripped off Everything's Ruined on their track Tender? The first few notes are almost the same, the first point at which the tempo is upped is similar, and the hushed tone of the opening vocals is similar as well.

Maybe this CD isn't for everyone. But if you like true pop, then this is an awesome CD. I beg you, just listen to 'Radiation Vibe', the opening track. Every other song on this album is just as good. Somewhere Alex Chilton should be smiling.

This is one indescribably superb CD. Each song has melodies and choruses that will stick in your mind for the longest time! Schlesinger and Collingswood are excellent musicians and songwriters who capitalize on 60's and 70's sound in a 90's world...which is why they aren't widely appreciated. But don't get the wrong impression: it's not like this music is totally retro...it still has a lot of 90's style, but their influences are ever-present. This is the best of the two FOW albums, but if you like this one a lot, I MUST recommend Utopia Parkway as well. Every song on this CD is great, but "Leave the Biker", "Survival Car", "Radiation Vibe", "Barbara H.", and "Please Don't Rock Me Tonight" are the best of the best!