 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
www.churchonthursday.com
Fountains
of Wayne
Welcome Interstate Managers
Some
Major Label
2003
Fountains of Wayne play what music journalists like
to call "Thinking Person's Pop"--which is
kind of an oxymoron like "jumbo shrimp", "anarchy rules"
and "Siskiyou Arts". The problem with labeling any band "Thinking
Person's Pop" is that most "thinking people" don't listen to
pop. That's why Pink, Britney Spears and *NSYNC sell more copies of one record
than the entire catalogs of XTC, Squeeze and Elvis Costello combined.
Welcome Interstate Managers is a good pop record. The songs are kitschy, catchy and even slightly intelligent. There's not much unique going on here: "Mexican Wine" borrows heavily from The Rentals, "Bright Future In Sales" wouldn't sound out of place on a Steve Miller Band record (except for the synths), "Hung Up On You" sounds like Cake when Cake tries to sound like a country band, and "Fire Island" is a decent imitation of Squeeze imitating The Beatles. At least Fountains of Wayne are borrowing from good sources--well, except for the Steve Miller Band.
If you have every Cake and Weezer record--including imports and bootlegs--and still want more jangly, jubilant, synth-laden, guitar-oriented pop, then Welcome Interstate Managers is probably perfect for you. Or, if you're one of those people who likes the bands on the American Pie or Friends soundtracks, even though you don't know their names because your pop culture-addled mind can't retain that much information, get this album. This is the wholesome, vanilla (yet slightly edgy) "alternative" band you've yearned for--even if you forget the band's name four hours after buying the album though you can probably recite dialogue from episodes of Dawson's Creek.
For those of you with more discerning tastes, go out and replace your well-worn copy of Squeeze's Singles 45s and Under.
--Felix Thursday