Published on Oct 25, 2005
Two years down the road from their breakout album
Welcome Interstate Managers
, Fountains Of Wayne haven’t quite gotten around to recording
a full-fledged follow-up. The explanation suggested in this
double-disc set’s witty, extensive, band-penned liner notes: “we’re
too lazy.”
The burgeoning worldwide shortage of clever, insightful
power-pop created by this lapse is at least temporarily resolved by
the recent issuance of this double-album of rarities, oddities and
cover tunes, not to mention the obligatory pair of brand-new
tracks. An oversized, hodgepodge collection like this would be an
unlistenable mess in many artists’ hands. The difference with
Fountains Of Wayne is, these guys just can’t seem to write a bad
song.
Not even when they are singing of subjects as mundane as their
friends’ birthday parties (“Janice’s Party”) or a New Jersey
flooring magnate (“Karpet King”) do the proceedings lag. Again and
again, songwriters/bandleaders Chris Collingwood and Adam
Schlesinger lend drama and pathos to the daily lives of their
flawed, all-too-human characters while drawing from a seemingly
bottomless bag of brilliant pop hooks.
It’s also somewhat revealing that even the demos unearthed here
have had considerable polish and thought applied to the
arrangements. Collingwood and Schlesinger are craftsmen of the
first order, whose “laziness” sounds more like perfectionism with
every listen. Even a four-track demo Collingwood recorded at home
as a teenager (“I Want You Around”) shows great attention to detail
and a precocious gift for vocal arrangements.
Highlights include the two new songs, which are terrific.
“Maureen,” an ode to a female friend who shares way too much
information, is cut from the same irresistibly melodic guitar-pop
cloth as “Stacy’s Mom,” and “The Girl I Can’t Forget” is classic
FoW, a simultaneously smart-alecky and wistful romp whose trumpet
accents push it right over the top.
In between dazzling you with one tossed-off gem after another,
the boys (Collingwood, Schlesinger, Jody Porter and Brian Young)
take the time to lovingly cover a variety of influences, from
Bacharach/David (“Trains And Boats And Planes”) to ELO (“Can’t Get
It Out Of My Head”) to Ricky Nelson (“Today’s Teardrops”) to Aztec
Camera (“Killermont Street”).
They are also funny as hell when they let loose with songs that
might come off as novelty tunes in less skilled musicians’ hands.
Of special note in this regard are the deceptively pretty
marital-argument-starter “I’ll Do The Driving,” the
self-explanatory “I Want An Alien For Christmas,” and of course,
“…Baby One More Time.” Yes, that’s right, the infamous
Britney Spears track, which they slow down, beef up and treat with
utter deadpan seriousness.
This economy-sized basket of odds and ends naturally doesn’t
have the thematic impact of a fully realized disc like
Welcome Interstate Managers. It’s more like a garage sale in
which every strange little knick-knack you pick up turns out to
have something special about it. Context aside, a great pop song is
a great pop song, and this 30-track collection is chock full of
’em.