bad.squirrel presents...

Fountains of Wayne - "Fountains of Wayne"

One of my very favourite albums in recent times, Fountains of Wayne's debut LP is awash with big fuzzy guitars and beautiful tunes. Their music is sometimes labelled 'power pop' and I guess other bands like Silver Sun, Lemonheads and Teenage Fanclub also fall into this category. Faster songs like "Joe Rey", "Survival car" and "I've got a flair" are catchy and upbeat but it's really the slower, moodier tracks which steal the show with engaging melodies and poignant observations. In particular, "She's got a problem" and "Barbara H." are simply sublime and the fragile, crystalline beauty of "Sick day" will take your breath away. They have an intense sadness which leaves me feeling cold but it's not an unpleasant sensation by any means.

Opening track "Radiation vibe" rocks with its nice vibrating bassline and certainly has an anthemic aura about it as it chants "Shine on, shine on, shine on!" One moment of comic relief is "Leave the biker" which has the singer begging the object of his desire to dump some unfeasibly insensitive Hell's Angel with a beard, replete with the "seafood special". "Everything's ruined" ends on an appropriately reflective note.

The songs occasionally have a West Coast, Californian, Beach Boys feel which adds even more to its charm. Fabulous.

Released on Atlantic, 1996 (7567-92725-2).

Click here for the official FoW website.

Click here for the homepage for other goodies.