Traffic And Weather

Performer: Fountains of Wayne
Producer: Adam Schlesinger
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Almost four years after Fountains of Wayne's mainstream breakthrough, 2003's WELCOME INTERSTATE MANAGERS, the New York City-based quartet returned with the full-length studio album TRAFFIC AND WEATHER. Another set of exuberant power-pop, this 14-track outing finds songwriters Chris Collingwood (lead vocals, guitar) and Adam Schlesinger (bass, backing vocals) once again offering up more catchy hooks and melodies in one tune than most bands can muster on an entire record. While the group's 1960s/'70s rock influences are still readily apparent (see the Beatlesque "Yolanda Hayes" and the Warren Zevon-like "'92 Subaru"), Collingwood and Schlesinger are capable of sounding utterly contemporary, as on the energetic and undeniably enjoyable opener, "Someone to Love," proving that FOW has something for almost any pop/rock fan.

Rolling Stone (p.62) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]here's no one else like them....[They] invent many dandy new ways not to be in love." Spin (p.87) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "TRAFFIC is populated by astutely observed characters....It's like an alt-rock adaptation of a John Cheever anthology." Entertainment Weekly (p.74) - "[T]he perfectly chosen details actually add emotional depth to the lyrical vignettes, bringing them to vivid life..." -- Grade: B+ Magnet (p.98) - "[B]right, hook-based pop, with an occasional in-joke that every now and then suggests FoW knows exactly what vein it's working." CMJ (p.42) - "[They turn] the humdrum monotony of interstate travel and 9-to-5 grind into the snappiest of semi-swagger pop." No Depression (p.85) - "TRAFFIC AND WEATHER is a procession of deadpan vignettes fitted with delectable guitar-driven melodies."

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.

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