Album Profile: Fountains Of Wayne

A few years ago I reviewed Fountains Of Wayne’s “traffic and weather” album and gave a review that most would probably construe as a positive one, but was left vague and open to interpretation. I am now going to go on record and say that I did not like that particular album.

I have been a fan of Fountains Of Wayne since their debut back in the 90’s, and “traffic & weather” was the first album that as a whole disappointed me. That is not to say that the album was without some decent songs, but I found more misses than hit in that collection.

I point this out, because I went into listening to their new album, “sky full of holes”, wondering if Fountains Of Wayne was going to fade away into one of those once great bands, or if they could recapture what worked on the first three albums so well.

I am happy to report that “sky full of holes” is a return to greatness for Fountains Of Wayne.

To me, this album is the logical follow up to their mainstream breakthrough, “welcome interstate managers”. While there may be no obvious, “Stacy’s mom”-esque single (which may be a good thing), there are plenty of witty pop tracks on “sky full of holes”. Upon first listen this album already felt like an old friend, and repeated listens just make me happier and happier that Fountains Of Wayne are back.

To use a lazy reviewer’s cliché, “sky full of a holes”, is an album lacking holes and chock full of what Fountains Of Wayne does best.

- Lazlo

www.fountainsofwayne.com

Fountains of Wayne's long-awaited new album, Sky Full of Holes, will be released in the US on August 2 via Yep Roc Records, their first release on the NC-based indie label. This is the acclaimed band's first new release since 2007's Traffic And Weather.

Recorded in New York City, Sky Full of Holes features 13 new songs by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger, ranging from high-energy power pop to intimate, acoustic-driven ballads. Songs like "The Summer Place" and "Richie And Ruben" showcase the band's renowned storytelling abilities and flair for creating memorable characters; elsewhere, they take a more impressionistic approach, as in the shimmering "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" and the elegiac "Cemetery Guns" (a lyric from which provides the album's title). In signature FoW fashion, the album manages to be simultaneously witty and wistful, imaginative and personal.

Formed in New York in 1996, Fountains of Wayne took its name from an iconic garden store in nearby Wayne, NJ (which, sadly, closed recently). The band has received steady critical accolades since its inception; "Dean Of American Rock Critics" Robert Christgau has called them "lyric poets" and "true art heroes." The group's line-up, which also includes guitarist Jody Porter and drummer Brian Young, has remained unchanged since they toured in support of their 1996 self-titled debut album. FoW were nominated for two Grammys, including a slightly belated Best New Artist nod, in 2003, after scoring a hit with their third album, Welcome Interstate Managers.