Customer Reviews

Out of State Plates

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

You know, normally a CD collection of b-side and various band ephemera is another way of saying: give us your money. There is the occasional good collection (Suede's Sci-Fi Lullabies; The Smiths' Louder Than Bombs). Mostly, it's dross. But Fountains of Wayne's Out-of-State Plates is consistently good, better, I believe, than their first two records (though not Welcome Interstate Managers). Highlights abound, including a version of "Baby One More Time", the new songs that are here for bait, and a lovely experiment called "Nightlight".

You would think it takes some sort of hubris to put out a B-sides & rarities disc only three album into a career; let alone making it a DOUBLE album...

But as their career has proven, Fountains of Wayne know exactly what they're doing. This blissfully pure pop-rock group has assembled over two dozen choice "throwaways"...

..."throwaways"? Right. Hardly...

They're all interesting, many are great, several are awesome, and the best single of the year is tossed in for kicks. This compilation is better than most of the albums released over the last 12 months.

"The Girl I Can't Forget" is the song that should be number one for the summer of 2005, except for the fact that people seem to have forgotten how joyous pure rocking pop music could be. The first time I heard this song, I grinned from ear to ear, and it's been in "heavy rotation" in my car ever since.

Trust me on this one: just listen to it once. That's all it'll take.

"Maureen", the other new song on the collection, is only slightly less great. These songs are so catchy, they should be quarantined.

Many of the songs have a healthy sense of humor ("California Sex Lawyer", "I Want an Alien for Christmas"), or convey simple ideas in some nifty way ("Baby I've Changed", "You're Just Never Satisfied").

The regaled cover of "...Baby One More Time" is actually...no I'm not kidding...good. They tweak it just so. You'll first think you're listening to some cool, slow, emo-ish rocker. Then you'll start to recognize the lyrics, and think, "No WAY." It's cool. Really.

Seriously, here you have two records of never-boring songs, several of which will permanently encamp themselves in your frontal lobe.

And PLEASE check out "The Girl I Can't Forget"...it's one of those songs you want to tell everyone about...so I am.

This is a classic American pop band that reminds me more than a little of English bands XTC and even the Kinks. These latter two bands wrote incredible, power pop songs that were heavy on the guitar and satire and should be played on the radio but that no longer is a valid statement in America today. Radio stations today are plug and play garbage stations that are one minute Jazz lite and the next 80's hit or turbo country or some such crap.

Their songs like Carpet King and Sex Lawyer and I'll do the driving evoke American landscapes that would easily fit within a Coen Brothers movie or any alternative Foreign flick that is heavy on the absurdity while staking a deep foundation in reality.


FOW is every bit a great rock and roll band from lyric to guitar lick. Stacy's Mom illustrated how clever they can be, and these B-Sides illustrate how even their album near-misses are stronger than most anything out there.

There's a cool country ballad on here and when they want to do Country they do it way too well-It slaps poor quality country artists hard. And, their musical influence Oasis appears once again also in the song, Elevator Up. (too bad Oasis doesn't hire this group to write their tired cliched lyrics...)

FOW is hopefully going to be around for a long time. With the Kinks aging gracefully out of the picture and the great Zevon gone, we vitally need a brilliant song-writing band that can also power-chord to keep cranking it out.

I'm a rabid Fountains of Wayne fan, and think that UTOPIA PARKWAY is one of the finest albums I've ever heard. (And yes, I like the band's earlier material as well.)

OUT-OF-STATE PLATES isn't a traditional music project in that it's composed of odds-and-ends that either didn't make other albums or were recorded for film projects and the like. And it suffers from this inasmuch as these types of albums always do.

If one culled through ALL these once-culled songs, you'd have enough material for one good pop record, as opposed to this double-disc CD that you'll have to fast-forward through periodically. If you're also a fan of the band's work, get OUT-OF-STATE PLATES and abridge it on iTunes, like I did. After all, "I Want an Alien for Christmas" is only funny once.

"Power-pop" -- a style of hook-laden popular music rooted in Beatles lyrical smarts, Byrds jangle, and Beach Boys harmonies -- has brought forth a number of fluke hits over the years (the Raspberries' "Go All the Way" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" in the '70s, Marshall Crenshaw's "Someday, Someway" and Crowded House's "Something So Strong" in the '80s, Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" in the '90s, etc.); but otherwise, sadly, the genre has been criminally ignored by mainstream radio. And for better or worse, Fountains of Wayne are part of this long tradition: Their slight but charming self-titled 1996 debut album and the exquisite, near-perfect 1999 follow-up Utopia Parkway received some exposure on alt-rock radio (thanks to the catchy singles "Radiation Vibe," "Denise" and "Red Dragon Tattoo"), but the general public didn't become aware of the NY-based foursome until their crossover smash "Stacy's Mom" from 2003's ambitious, overlong Welcome Interstate Managers.

But even in light of FOW's Grammy nomination for Best New Artist (?!) in 2004, I would've thought a 2-disc collection of B-sides, unreleased tracks, and other rarities from a band that has only released 3 albums would be an embarrassment of riches... Actually, though, the power-pop lover in me finds Out-Of-State Plates to be more of a treasure-trove. Among the many odd goodies: two brand-new tunes, "Maureen" and "The Girl I Can't Forget," that could stand with the band's best singles; decent covers of ELO's "Can't Get it Out of My Head," Britney Spears' "Hit Me Baby One More Time" (!), Jackson Browne's "These Days," Ricky Nelson's "Today's Teardrops," and the Bacharach/David chestnut "Trains and Boats and Planes"; the 1997 holiday single "I Want an Alien for Christmas," as well as its B-sides "The Man in the Santa Suit" and "Chanukah Under the Stars"; and an up-tempo live rendition of "She's Got a Problem" (originally recorded as a slow-burn ballad on the band's debut CD).

There's no question that the music in this collection is derivative and not very diverse, but there's no use complaining about it if it sounds so good. Besides, the real main attractions here are the lyrics by FOW's chief songwriters, bassist Adam Schlesinger and sweet-voiced lead singer Chris Collingwood -- often wittily incisive ("Comedienne," "Baby I've Changed"), sometimes pure silly fun ("I'll Do the Driving"), and occasionally poignant ("Imperia", a moving elegy to Collingwood's late grandfather, concludes the set on a somber note). Granted, some of these numbers are just tossed-off novelties ("Half a Woman," "California Sex Lawyer"), but many more of them ("I Know You Well," "Small Favors", etc.) are just as well-crafted and compelling as the songs that actually made it onto the band's albums. (Fringe benefit: Collingwood and Schlesinger's track-by-track liner notes, which are as funny as they are insightful.)

If I have any complaints about Out-Of-State Plates, it's that it could've been longer; as it stands, there's only 82 minutes of material spread out over 2 CDs. Personally, I would've added FOW's cover of "Better Things" from the 2002 tribute album This Is Where I Belong: The Songs Of Ray Davies & The Kinks, and their acoustic rendition of "Everything's Ruined" from the 2004 MoveOn.org benefit disc Future Soundtrack For America (although maybe those are being saved for the band's inevitable "greatest hits" CD).

I thought music this fun and well constructed and so free of deep inner angst was dead. A great collection of supposed castoffs that exceed most group's best-of collections (Hello Sugar Ray!). Fountains of Wayne made me smile. Than I remembered how it felt to be 17 and want to get into Janice's Party. Somewhere in England Nick Lowe is smoking a cigarette, tossing one back and smiling. Someone has finally stepped up and taken the stage. As much as I like the Wondermints, this is who the Wondermints think they are. Completely free of artifice.

This compilation is exactly what any FOW fan has probably been waiting for since first discovering some of their fun rarities. There are a few tracks that are on a compilation (instead of on an actual album) for good reason, but for the most part, both discs are strong from top to bottom.

Most of their rarities that have been floating around are included, such as Baby One More Time and I Want an Alien for Christmas. I was hoping that a studio version of Bowling Shoes would be included, but there's good news... They actually picked apart that song and turned it into the first verse of The Girl I Can't Forget, a new tune that is as catchy and well-crafted as anything they've ever recorded. Other standouts include I Know You Well, Baby I've Changed, and These Days (a cover).

Also be sure to check out the liner notes. Adam and Chris provide comments for every song, although often times they're just cracking jokes. Still, it's interesting to see the story behind each track, when they get around to telling it.

Definitely worth it!

Most b-side compilations are for die-hard fans only. In the vast majority of cases, there is a very good reason the songs didn't make the cut on previous discs. To some extent that is true here. This is less than prime FOW for the most part, but the songwriting is still stronger than almost anything else out there if you are a fan of power pop. Moreover, the two new songs are wonderful and "The Girl I Can't Forget" is worth the price of admission alone. Other highlights are the ELO and Britney Spears(!) covers. Recommended.

After three studio albums, FoW decided to put out this double CD collection of B-sides, live tracks, and demo's. This delightful collection of "leftovers" continues the band's talent for writing catchy, melodic power-pop. Truth be told, they could've marketed the entire collection as another studio album if they wanted to. But I think they wanted to put out this collection just to appease us fans until their next album comes out (sometime next year), which I'm very glad they did! In the meantime, I'll just have to settle to listening these songs over and over again! :)

Stand out tracks:

Maureen
California Sex Lawyer
Janice's Party
I Know You Well
I'll Do The Driving
The Girl I Can't Forget
Kid Gloves
I Want An Alien For Christmas
The Man In The Santa Suit
Imperia

If you're into power pop, you should check out this other band by the name of Material Issue (R.I.P., Jim Ellison - God rest his soul...).

FOW runs hot and cold. Their first two records were uneven, but with some real highlights. With their third record they hit the big time and every song on it is terrific. Now, with this compilation, they have proven that their demos and outtakes are better than most mainstream stuff. The entire first disk rocks and disc two has some mellower moments (including a surprisingly effective cover of "These Days")among the rockers. If you can listen to this band without smiling, you're way over medicated! Marshall Crenshaw-style power pop! It's a glorious thing!