In the realm of acts to have flirted with or fallen for novelty, Fountains of Wayne are somewhere in between They Might Be Giants and Weird “Al” Yankovic. They’re probably roommates with Cracker.
I used to be a fan before “Stacy’s Mom” steered them toward Weezer at the shallow end of that particular pool. But I have always claimed Utopia Parkway as one my desert island discs. It’s one of the few records I own that’s flawless from beginning to end. For that one record, they managed to perfect their formula into an ageless synthesis of blues-less American Pop. Equal parts Beatles, Big Star, Cars, Cheap Trick, and (the secret sauce) Steve Miller Band. I’d also argue that their later bad habit of aiming witless sarcasm at big, obvious targets isn’t really present on Utopia Parkway. Yeah, they make fun of a variety of lower class schleps, but there’s heart and love in most of their sketches; a subtlety and poignancy that, in hindsight, seems to have been a phase they were going through.
As good as it is, I’m listening to it this morning with different ears after hearing Robbie Fulks’s merciless deconstruction of FoW, which he recorded in 2005. In “Fountains of Wayne Hotline” Fulks returns FoW’s trademark condescension as he imagines himself calling the band’s faceless call center for advice that can get him through his writer’s block.
You can hear for yourself below. But before you listen, if you aren’t already familiar with Fountains of Wayne, sample a few tracks from Utopia Parkway. Definitely give a listen to the title track.
Then click play.
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Other stuff
Double Nickles turns 25. First Minutemen record I ever owned.
Jam Legend is a web-based clone of Guitar Hero that lets you upload and play your own song. Apparently its compatible with actual Guitar Hero and Rock Band controllers.
One of the best music bloggers on Tumblr lists his other favorite music bloggers to use the popular service.
Songs About Serial Killers, Part I and Part II. The best of them is from Sufjan Stevens:
The three biggest reasons music magazines like Vibe and Blender are dying. 1) They aren’t good anymore. 2) They were never very good. 3) The internet is everything they were or could be times a million. The article gives slightly different reasons.
Salt Lake City is putting on some great free shows this summer. Hat tip: my pal and former co-worker Sania.
This girl does a pretty good job of breaking your heart.
Finally, you’ll have fun playing with Tonematrix. It’s a simple, visual step sequencer that allows you to save and input your patterns with comma separated values like the one below.
2,8,84,0,4,0,20,0,128,64,0,20,0,64,128,0
This can be pasted into the Audio Tool, which I mentioned previously.
