FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE
''SKY FULL OF HOLES''
AUGUST 2 2011
45:05
1. The Summer Place/3:30
2. Richie and Ruben/3:32
3. Acela/3:12
4. Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart/3:54
5. Action Hero/4:00
6. A Dip in the Ocean/3:34
7. Cold Comfort Flowers/4:25
8. A Road Song/3:04
9. Workingman's Hands/2:38
10. Hate to See You Like This/4:13
11. Radio Bar/2:56
12. Firelight Waltz/3:13
13. Cemetery Guns/2:53
All Tracks By Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger
Ronnie Buttacavoli/Trumpet
Chris Collingwood/Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals
Jody Porter/Guitar, Vocals
Adam Schlesinger/Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals
Garo Yellin/Cello
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Despite their best efforts, Fountains of Wayne didn’t quite manage to capitalize on the crossover success of “Stacey’s Mom” with 2007’s Traffic and Weather, so hearing the power poppers relax into a working band’s groove on 2011’s Sky Full of Holes is not entirely unexpected. Traffic and Weather had some snap on its surface, thanks largely to the bandmembers running with their encyclopedic pop eclecticism, letting themselves sonically accentuate their witticisms with passing production allusions, but Sky Full of Holes is an adult alternative pop record through and through, unfussy and unfettered by unnecessary accouterments. It’s not necessarily drab -- “Radio Bar” speeds along with the assistance of blaring horns mimicking the vocal line -- but it is straightforward, the songs never reaching beyond the expected, the color never seeping outside of the lines. Straightforward doesn’t mean tired, either. Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger’s specialty as songwriters has always been turning a trope inside out, finding ways to freshen or invert convention, and while they haven’t lost that knack, the directness of Sky Full of Holes turns their tunes into something approaching standard-issue. Of course, savvy semi-satirists that they are, Fountains of Wayne are fully aware when they’re skirting cliché, particularly when they’ve resorted to writing “A Road Song,” and they have the skill to keep proceedings tuneful and funny, but this dexterity doesn’t always keep Sky Full of Holes from becoming just a tad too comfortable.
BIOGRAPHY
by Andrew Leahey
Although Fountains of Wayne didn't enjoy mainstream attention until the release of "Stacy's Mom" in 2003, the band had already established itself as one of America's strongest power pop acts. Based in New Jersey, the group first appeared in 1996 with a mix of British-influenced pop songs, lo-fi production, and wry lyrics about dead-end jobs and biker boyfriends. Fountains of Wayne expanded their lineup and polished up their sound during the following years, eventually hitting gold with 2003's Welcome Interstate Managers. While that album proved to be something of a fluke success, the band continued releasing well-crafted records throughout the subsequent years. Meanwhile, co-founder Adam Schlesinger enjoyed a separate career as a producer and ghostwriter for other artists.
Schlesinger first crossed paths with Chris Collingwood in 1986, while both were studying at Massachusetts' Williams College. Sharing a mutual affection for melodic British pop, the two formed a series of short-lived bands before recording an LP under the name Pinwheel. The duo split up after legal hassles blocked the album's release, with Schlesinger resurfacing as part of the indie pop band Ivy and Collingwood joining a Boston-based country group named the Mercy Buckets. The two musicians eventually reunited in 1996 as Fountains of Wayne, christening their band after a lawn ornament store in Wayne, NJ. Atlantic Records released the duo's self-titled LP that same year, and Schlesinger helped create some more buzz by authoring the title song to the movie That Thing You Do!
Schlesinger's contributions to the film's soundtrack garnered a Grammy nomination and an RIAA gold certification in 1997. Fountains of Wayne's own album only enjoyed a sliver of that success, though, selling roughly 125,000 copies in America. Despite a lack of mainstream attention, the band toured the world alongside the Lemonheads and the Smashing Pumpkins. The addition of two touring musicians -- guitarist Jody Porter and former Posies drummer Brian Young -- helped round out the band's sound, and both became official members during the recording of Utopia Parkway. Released in 1999, the album expanded the band's catalog with slicker production, beefier harmonies, and Porter's muscled guitar work. Despite the popularity of "Denise" at college radio, Utopia Parkway sold poorly. Frustrations grew between Fountains of Wayne and Atlantic Records, who neglected to promote the song "Trouble Times" as a single, and the band was dropped from Atlantic's roster in late 1999. A long hiatus followed, during which Schlesinger co-wrote several songs for the Josie and the Pussycats film, released a third album with Ivy, and produced albums for the Verve Pipe, David Mead, and They Might Be Giants.
The musicians reconvened four years later, funneling their own money into the creation of Welcome Interstate Managers. Released in 2003 on the newly minted S-Curve label, the album gave Fountains of Wayne its first taste of Billboard-certified success with "Stacy's Mom," a hit across several charts and the band's first Top 40 entry. The accompanying music video featured Rachel Hunter as the song's voluptuous title character; perhaps predictably so, it became a staple at MTV. The subsequent singles "Mexican Wine" and "Hey Julie" fared less well, but Welcome Interstate Managers nevertheless went gold, whetting the public's appetite for future Fountains of Wayne releases.
The double-disc compilation album Out-of-State Plates arrived in 2005, sporting two new songs (including the single "Maureen"), several live cuts, and a wealth of rarities. Fountains of Wayne launched a limited tour before returning home, where Schlesinger kept up his songwriting chops by penning four tracks for the soundtrack to the 2007 film Music & Lyrics. That same year also saw the release of another FOW album, Traffic and Weather, which continued the band's tradition of fusing power pop with lyrics about travel, relationships, and workplace boredom. While working on a follow-up album, Schlesinger found time to play alongside Taylor Hanson, James Iha, and Bun E. Carlos in the pop supergroup Tinted Windows, whose debut album appeared in 2009. Later that year, Schlesinger joined Fountains of Wayne on a full-band acoustic tour, using the opportunity to play a handful of new songs in front of a live audience. Most of the new material found its way onto the band's next album, Sky Full of Holes, which doubled as their first release for Yep Roc in 2011.
''SKY FULL OF HOLES''
AUGUST 2 2011
45:05
1. The Summer Place/3:30
2. Richie and Ruben/3:32
3. Acela/3:12
4. Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart/3:54
5. Action Hero/4:00
6. A Dip in the Ocean/3:34
7. Cold Comfort Flowers/4:25
8. A Road Song/3:04
9. Workingman's Hands/2:38
10. Hate to See You Like This/4:13
11. Radio Bar/2:56
12. Firelight Waltz/3:13
13. Cemetery Guns/2:53
All Tracks By Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger
Ronnie Buttacavoli/Trumpet
Chris Collingwood/Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals
Jody Porter/Guitar, Vocals
Adam Schlesinger/Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Vocals
Garo Yellin/Cello
REVIEW
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Despite their best efforts, Fountains of Wayne didn’t quite manage to capitalize on the crossover success of “Stacey’s Mom” with 2007’s Traffic and Weather, so hearing the power poppers relax into a working band’s groove on 2011’s Sky Full of Holes is not entirely unexpected. Traffic and Weather had some snap on its surface, thanks largely to the bandmembers running with their encyclopedic pop eclecticism, letting themselves sonically accentuate their witticisms with passing production allusions, but Sky Full of Holes is an adult alternative pop record through and through, unfussy and unfettered by unnecessary accouterments. It’s not necessarily drab -- “Radio Bar” speeds along with the assistance of blaring horns mimicking the vocal line -- but it is straightforward, the songs never reaching beyond the expected, the color never seeping outside of the lines. Straightforward doesn’t mean tired, either. Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger’s specialty as songwriters has always been turning a trope inside out, finding ways to freshen or invert convention, and while they haven’t lost that knack, the directness of Sky Full of Holes turns their tunes into something approaching standard-issue. Of course, savvy semi-satirists that they are, Fountains of Wayne are fully aware when they’re skirting cliché, particularly when they’ve resorted to writing “A Road Song,” and they have the skill to keep proceedings tuneful and funny, but this dexterity doesn’t always keep Sky Full of Holes from becoming just a tad too comfortable.
BIOGRAPHY
by Andrew Leahey
Although Fountains of Wayne didn't enjoy mainstream attention until the release of "Stacy's Mom" in 2003, the band had already established itself as one of America's strongest power pop acts. Based in New Jersey, the group first appeared in 1996 with a mix of British-influenced pop songs, lo-fi production, and wry lyrics about dead-end jobs and biker boyfriends. Fountains of Wayne expanded their lineup and polished up their sound during the following years, eventually hitting gold with 2003's Welcome Interstate Managers. While that album proved to be something of a fluke success, the band continued releasing well-crafted records throughout the subsequent years. Meanwhile, co-founder Adam Schlesinger enjoyed a separate career as a producer and ghostwriter for other artists.
Schlesinger first crossed paths with Chris Collingwood in 1986, while both were studying at Massachusetts' Williams College. Sharing a mutual affection for melodic British pop, the two formed a series of short-lived bands before recording an LP under the name Pinwheel. The duo split up after legal hassles blocked the album's release, with Schlesinger resurfacing as part of the indie pop band Ivy and Collingwood joining a Boston-based country group named the Mercy Buckets. The two musicians eventually reunited in 1996 as Fountains of Wayne, christening their band after a lawn ornament store in Wayne, NJ. Atlantic Records released the duo's self-titled LP that same year, and Schlesinger helped create some more buzz by authoring the title song to the movie That Thing You Do!
Schlesinger's contributions to the film's soundtrack garnered a Grammy nomination and an RIAA gold certification in 1997. Fountains of Wayne's own album only enjoyed a sliver of that success, though, selling roughly 125,000 copies in America. Despite a lack of mainstream attention, the band toured the world alongside the Lemonheads and the Smashing Pumpkins. The addition of two touring musicians -- guitarist Jody Porter and former Posies drummer Brian Young -- helped round out the band's sound, and both became official members during the recording of Utopia Parkway. Released in 1999, the album expanded the band's catalog with slicker production, beefier harmonies, and Porter's muscled guitar work. Despite the popularity of "Denise" at college radio, Utopia Parkway sold poorly. Frustrations grew between Fountains of Wayne and Atlantic Records, who neglected to promote the song "Trouble Times" as a single, and the band was dropped from Atlantic's roster in late 1999. A long hiatus followed, during which Schlesinger co-wrote several songs for the Josie and the Pussycats film, released a third album with Ivy, and produced albums for the Verve Pipe, David Mead, and They Might Be Giants.
The musicians reconvened four years later, funneling their own money into the creation of Welcome Interstate Managers. Released in 2003 on the newly minted S-Curve label, the album gave Fountains of Wayne its first taste of Billboard-certified success with "Stacy's Mom," a hit across several charts and the band's first Top 40 entry. The accompanying music video featured Rachel Hunter as the song's voluptuous title character; perhaps predictably so, it became a staple at MTV. The subsequent singles "Mexican Wine" and "Hey Julie" fared less well, but Welcome Interstate Managers nevertheless went gold, whetting the public's appetite for future Fountains of Wayne releases.
The double-disc compilation album Out-of-State Plates arrived in 2005, sporting two new songs (including the single "Maureen"), several live cuts, and a wealth of rarities. Fountains of Wayne launched a limited tour before returning home, where Schlesinger kept up his songwriting chops by penning four tracks for the soundtrack to the 2007 film Music & Lyrics. That same year also saw the release of another FOW album, Traffic and Weather, which continued the band's tradition of fusing power pop with lyrics about travel, relationships, and workplace boredom. While working on a follow-up album, Schlesinger found time to play alongside Taylor Hanson, James Iha, and Bun E. Carlos in the pop supergroup Tinted Windows, whose debut album appeared in 2009. Later that year, Schlesinger joined Fountains of Wayne on a full-band acoustic tour, using the opportunity to play a handful of new songs in front of a live audience. Most of the new material found its way onto the band's next album, Sky Full of Holes, which doubled as their first release for Yep Roc in 2011.
