Fountains of Wayne

Performer: Fountains of Wayne
Artist: Dominique Durand
Engineer: Gary Maurer; Adam Schlesinger
Producer: Adam Schlesinger
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Fountains Of Wayne: Chris Collingwood (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Adam Schlesinger (drums, guitar, keyboards, vocals). Additional personnel: Danny Weinkauf (bass); Dominique Durand (background vocals). Recorded at The Place, New York, New York between January and April 1996. Personnel: Adam Schlesinger (vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums); Chris Collingwood (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Dominique Durand (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Christopher Shaw ; Gary Maurer; Adam Schlesinger. Photographers: Chris Buck; Nick Waplington; Joseph Cultice. Fountains Of Wayne provide the essential missing link between the Raspberries and Green Day: sunny, harmony-laced choruses and pure-pop song structures with a gritty, Buzzcocks-like edge provided by distorted guitars and strident drumming. Songs like "Joe Rey" and "Barbara H." strike the perfect balance between sweetness and bite. The band, from Wayne, New Jersey, is the brainchild of vocalists/multi-instrumentalists Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger. Schlesinger was the composer of the Beatlesque title song of the film "That Thing You Do," and the songs on the band's self-titled debut (all Schlesinger/Collingwood cowrites) update that tune's amiable power-pop quite agreeably. The frothy pop hijinks are backed up by a keen sense of humor, as on "Leave The Biker," which finds the protagonist exhorting the object of his desire to dump her bad-boy beau in favor of his nerdish cool. The gentle, poignant "She's Got A Problem" is an affecting, sympathetic ballad that recalls the granddaddy of nerd-pop, Jonathan Richman. The coup de grace comes with "Please Don't Rock Me Tonight," a clever twist on rock and roll cliches that sounds like a sequel to the Records' classic "Starry Eyes."

Entertainment Weekly (11/1/96, p.70) - "...Their hook-reverent, nice-guy rock has a melodic poignancy reminiscent of mid-'60s Kinks tinged with a postmodern Weezer-esque malaise. As safe, pleasant, and nondescript as a prefab suburban hamlet." - Rating: B Q (1/98, p.112) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1997." Q (6/97, p.132) - 4 Stars - "...Fountains Of Wayne offer up a debut brimful of character...upbeat and infused with a dry lyrical wit..."

Fountains of Wayne, built around singer/songwriters Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, appeared in the mid-1990s with a hook-filled power-pop sound that acknowledged '60s and '70s influences but was unmistakably informed by a contemporary alt-rock sensibility. While their first two albums were well received (and they scored a minor hit in 1996 with "Radiation Vibe"), it wasn't until their third, 2003's WELCOME INTERSTATE MANAGERS, that they finally achieved major stardom with the single "Stacy's Mom." Along the way, they also garnered an Oscar nomination for the incredibly catchy theme song they wrote for the 1996 rock-fable film THAT THING YOU DO.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25