Three Imaginary Girls - Fountains of Wayne

Recommended Show: Fountains of Wayne at The Croc this Friday {10/7}

Imaginary Amie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:56:37 +0000

This is almost impossible for a Fountains of Wayne fangirl such as myself to believe, but incredibly, the FoW show this Friday at The Crocodile is NOT sold out. What. Therfore, it is my duty to tell you people that The Wayne puts on some of the finest live shows around, and if you don't immediately get online and buy a ticket, you are going to regret it.

I realize that many of you didn't love Sky Full of Holes (Imaginary Steve might get into a minor fist-fight with you if you tell him that, though...), and I understand that. It's hard to match the power-poppy glory of their self-titled debut, or of Utopia Parkway - and I'm sure we've all heard "Stacy's Mom" more than a few too many times - but you know what? Their other albums are still damn good albums, and these guys still rock the hell out of every single one of their tunes. I always have an insane amount of fun at their shows, and you can bet I'll be near the front this Friday, screaming out the lyrics and dancing my ass off (which will make me incredibly easy to recognize, since only about 2% of people at Seattle shows dance). Join me?

Fountains of Wayne
w/Mike Viola at
The Crocodile
Friday, October 7
8pm | 21+ | $20 ($23 w/fees)

Fountains of Wayne photo by Violeta Alvarez, from the FoW web site

Sky Full of Holes

Imaginary Steve — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:13:09 +0000

7.7

http://store.easystreetonline.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=375&upc=63445722472

20110722_fountains_of_wayne_sky_full_of_holes_47.jpg

More than a great percentage of people I’ve met, I’m someone who likes things I can count on. This might explain everything from why I’ve worked only two jobs over the past decade to why I always pack my cigarettes exactly eight times. OK, “I’m nuts” might be a better explanation for the latter but I digress.

With all this in mind, Fountains of Wayne are, in many ways, the perfect band for someone like me. They figured out early on what they were good at and stuck to the script. When a new FoW record drops, you’re guaranteed to be treated to flawlessly constructed pop songs with tight yet exceedingly simple arrangements. They’re the most reliable three and a half minutes in rock n roll. Suffice to say, Sky Full of Holes continues in this vein.

That said, FoW’s fifth full length is hardly a carbon copy of their previous catalog. Most notably, they’ve dialed back the punchy electric guitar approach that has been something of a staple. Sky Full of Holes relies much more on mid-tempo, largely acoustic backdrops. About half way through, I found myself thinking a lot about The Get Up Kids. In particular, how Kansas City’s finest followed a half decade of fast paced power pop with the Scott Litt-produced On a Wire, which seemed to boast nary a distorted guitar. And after hearing SFoH a few times through, this comparison seemed even more apt. In both cases, while the arrangements were a departure, the songwriting aptitude remained essentially the same.

Lead track “The Summer Place” shines with Beatles circa Help! swagger and features a protagonst who feels nostalgia for a time in her life that most would surmise actually kind of sucked. Among their many virtues as storytellers is FoW’s ability to create a sympathetic identity for a character within the space of just a moment or two.

“Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart” earns a spot among the very best Fountains of Wayne singles. It’s the latest in a parade of Chris Collingwood-penned gems fully deserving of a Top 40 status it’s unlikely to attain. This is also the moment where the band come closest to their vintage sound.

Fountains of Wayne have always emphasized emotion and melodic content over, say, cerebral lyrics. “Hate to See You Like This” is a good example. It boasts a lovely, aching melody that nullifies the fact that the lyrics could have been written by a less folksy, more compassionate Dr. Phil. Besides, Dr. Phil’s songs are shit.

While Sky Full of Holes isn’t quite as consistent on a song-by-song basis as FoW’s first two LPs, it stands up well against their output over the past decade. As this disc illustrates once more, heartfelt simplicity almost always trumps unnecessary complexity. If you disagree, I’ve got a milk crate full of Rush records you might enjoy. Otherwise, I invite you to bask in the glory of Sky Full of Holes. It’s proof positive that Schlesinger and Co. remain craftsmen of top-shelf pop songs.

Bring back the sun (??!!) with Imaginary Amie's Summer Mixtape

Imaginary Amie — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:56:19 +0000

Ahhh….summer. There's nothing quite like cranking up a bouncy, happy song on a sunny day - whether you're in a car with the top down, or taking a sunshiny sidewalk stroll with your earphones firmly in place. Sadly, once again this summer, the sunny days in Seattle have been few and far between (Hello, July?). Here's to hoping this beach and BBQ-ready virtual mixtape I put together will keep you feeling warm!

1. The Drums - "Let's Go Surfing" - Summertime EP (2:55)
{tig} {listen} {buy}

2. Bow Wow Wow - "I Want Candy (Kevin Shields Remix)" - Marie Antoinette Soundtrack (2:40)
{listen} {buy}

3. The Submarines - "You Me and the Bourgeoisie" - Honeysuckle Weeks (3:22)
{tig} {listen} {buy}

{more tracks after the jump}

Fountains of Wayne with Jon Auer at the Triple Door

imaginary victoria — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:25:21 +0000

15 Jan 2009

FOW06.jpg

Fountains of Wayne are pure pop genius.

I'm not kidding one bit when I say that last Thursday's show was nothing short of brilliant. They're catchy enough to make you sing along for days, and smart enough that you don't have to feel dirty for loving them. The songs are part twee, part twang, melancholy power-pop that can hold a highlight spot on your best mix tapes.

Taking the Triple Door crowd seamlessly from sad to hopeful, ache to glee, Fountains of Wayne translated to live performance with some of the best I've ever had the privilege to see, for fifty-five straight minutes -- plus a four song encore. Add in the smartest harmonies this side of Hackensack, a bass player with faint undertones of Wooten and McCartney, showcase it all in sparkle-soft stage bliss, and you've got the first best sit-down show of 2009, ever.

Far from being an understated opener, Jon Auer began the evening by pulling from an impressive catalog of songs from his Posies and Big Star days, as well as a handful of stellar tracks from his newer solo album. He was warm and epic, comfortable; using the venue's gorgeous forum for a handful of just-right, unplugged, solo-singer-songwriter in the stagelight moments. It was mouth-agape, beaming from the front row, pull up your knees to your chest and your sleeves over your hands, 'please don't let it stop' kind of good -- a beautiful precursor for his headlining set Saturday night. He took over his own lyrically adept selection of songs like a true pro, delivering with just the right amount of witty banter, slashing us in half with his well-crafted ache, and brought on the talented Gavin Guss for some gorgeous support on the Steinway center-stage.

Here's the Fountains of Wayne setlist, courtesy of ChrisB:

1. "Please Don't Rock Me Tonight"

2. "Little Red Light"

3. "Someone to Love"

4. "The Summer Place"

5. "Fire Island"

6. "Fire in the Canyon"

7. "Cold Comfort Flowers"

8. "Hey Julie"

9. "A Road Song"

10. "Red Dragon Tattoo"

11. "Valley Winter Song"

12. "I95"

13. "Bright Future in Sales"

14. "Radiation Vibe"

15. "Survival Car"

[encore break]

1. "Cemetary Guns"

2. "Troubled Times"

3. "Stacy's Mom"

4. "Joe Rey"

It's worth noting that it wasn't one of those shows where you were waiting for the hit to go home -- when "Stacey's Mom" showed up in the encore set, it was a well-crafted, Fountains of Wayne covering Ben Folds Five covering a lounge act covering Fountains of Wayne version that had the whole house grinning ear-to-ear.

Total and unadulterated melancholy pop blissfulness.

Imaginary Interview: Fountains of Wayne

ChrisB — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:25:06 +0000

For as long as I’ve been a “serious” music fan, one of my favorite bands was Fountains of Wayne, the powerpop band from New Jersey whose songs are often about socially awkward characters trying to find their place in the real world – although best known for their single “Stacy’s Mom”. When I found out that the band was set to embark on a short, acoustic tour at the beginning of 2009 (including a stop on January 15 at the Triple Door here in Seattle), I jumped at the opportunity to interview songwriter/bassist Adam Schlesinger, where we discussed his band, its future and the songwriting process.

With two songwriters in Fountains of Wayne, you and Chris Collingwood, how do you write songs together?

Well, we don’t really collaborate in songwriting anymore. Even though we still share the songwriting credits, most of the songs are either my songs entirely or his songs entirely and we work on them in the studio. Someone else might have a suggestion or two about a line but we don’t really collaborate anymore. We did when we started the band but now we live in different states.

You work on a lot of different projects, including music for television and film. How do you decide what is going to be a FOW song or what is going to be for something else?

When I write songs, I usually have a particular singer in mind. There have been a few cases where I’ve written something for someone else and we ended up using it but that is very rare. Usually I have to write with a particular singer in mind to even get an idea going.

I really enjoy FOW songs because the characters are easy to relate to, at least in my own life. Are they autobiographical in any way?

I write songs about made-up characters but there might be details I include from my own life. Chris writes some songs like “Valley Winter Song” which is his and about his home. The diary-like songs are mostly his.

There are a lot of timely, pop culture references in your songs. For example, “Someone to Love” references characters that watch “King of Queens” and listen to Coldplay. Do you worry about when those references fade from the cultural memory?

Yeah, it’s true those songs are very of the moment sometimes but I remember listening to Beatles or Kinks songs as a kid and not knowing what those songs meant but to me, they’re grounded in a particular time or place.

FOW’s biggest hit is probably “Stacy’s Mom”, was there anything that stood out when you were making it that made you think it could be a hit?

At that point we felt like we had written a bunch of songs that we thought were good. We had just gotten lucky with that one. In fact, when we made that record, Welcome Interstate Managers, we didn’t even have a record deal. We just made the record on our own and when we were done we put together three or four songs and sent them to record companies. “Stacy’s Mom” was one of them. The people who heard it didn’t think it was a hit song. We got lucky and one guy that heard it thought it could be a hit and he was the one who gave us a deal and spent some money to give us a shot.

But you never know with that stuff. I don’t think we set out to write a hit; we always set out to write catchy songs and we just cross our fingers and hope the stars align and one of them does better than the rest. It was just one of those songs people started hearing and requesting it on radio stations and you began hearing it more and more. It’s a different world now. I don’t know if that would happen in 2009.

Do you feel any pressure to make another hit like that?

Right now we’re just making a conscious effort to make stuff we like and feel comfortable playing. We’re lucky in that over the twelve years we’ve been able to develop a small, but loyal, fan base. We’re just trying to count on them and we’re not trying to have a top 40 hit every time. It would be nice but for us, it is more important that we make records we like.

Are there any songs that are your favorites or that you are particularly proud of?

There are a lot that I really like and there are some that are fun to play each night. There are some songs that we’ve pretty played since we started the band that I still enjoying playing. “Radiation Vibe” is obviously one of them. That’s a song Chris wrote but it is the song that pretty much started the band. I just thought it was amazing and still love playing it every night.

For me, the most satisfying part of writing a song is if you have an off-beat idea and you struggle with it for a while and ultimately it comes together. There are some songs for me like “All Kinds of Time”, from Welcome Interstate Managers, that we don’t play it live much but I’m really proud of it because I think it’s a really strange idea for a song and somehow it ends up being kind of moving in the end. You never know when that’s going to happen. It’s a terrible idea on paper – it’s about a football player and there’s no particular reason why this song should have come out. It didn’t have any emotional resonance but when all the music came together, it gave the song much more weight than I expected.

That’s another thing with songwriting. I often start off with a lyrical idea first then take musical ideas with it; but it really is interesting how words and music interact. A song may look a certain way on paper but when you hear it on top of a certain melody, it has a whole new meaning than what you might expect. I think that is what happened with that song.

As you said earlier, you and Chris both live in different states, how do you write now?

We just get together for like a week or so in the studio and work with what got and try some stuff out. Even if a tune doesn’t knock us out on an acoustic guitar, we’ll still play around with it.

I remember when Chris brought in “Red Dragon Tattoo” and he was down on it and kind of embarrassed about it but we all really liked it and wanted to give it a shot. After jamming on it for a bit we came up with a different approach then what he might have had in his head and then he got excited about it too and it ended up becoming a staple song for us.

How do the other members of the band, drummer Brian Young and guitarist Jody Porter, fit in to the songwriting process?

Well, up to this point, we’ve been the sole songwriters but I don’t want to minimize their contributions. As we’ve grown as a band, I think Chris and I have gotten more comfortable leaving more to chance in the studio. There are a lot of times where one of those guys will offer a part that really alters the song. It might be a guitar part from Jody or a drum part from Brian, but their contributions are essential. It’s really nice having four guys that really get along because our instincts are all similar in terms of what works best for us and the band. They have definitely brought in a lot of crucial ideas.

What is going on with the next Fountains of Wayne record?

We started a new record and have been in the studio for a few months here and there but we probably have a way to go. We’re playing some shows at the beginning of the year to try out some of the new songs. That and it’ll be nice to get out of New York during the winter.

fow.jpg

Be sure not to miss the prolific powerpop band when they play at the Triple Door on January 15 with Jon Auer of The Posies.

What Christmas songs are you enjoying right now?

ChrisB — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 13:41:51 +0000

If you're not already sick of Christmas music (and who could blame you if you were?), are there any songs this holiday that you are especially enjoying?

Best of 2007: ChrisB's Top 10 list

ChrisB — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:30:39 +0000

Since I have the time and am not terribly anxious to go outside in the rain again but am looking to start an argument or two, here's my list of my top 10 albums of the year, with YouTube-age of my favorite song from each album (where available).

Are we all doomed?

Erik Gonzalez — Sat, 19 May 2007 21:33:22 +0000

So I was browsing around the iTunes music store and I stumbled across a section called "Alternative for Adults". Having just turned 30, I was curious what they expect adults who like alternative should be listening to these days. Well, I was slightly mortified. Here is the list:

Brandi Carlisle, Augustana, Ray LaMontagne, Patty Griffin, Bright Eyes, Amy Winehouse, Fountains of Wayne, Martin Sexton, Amos Lee, Angelique Kidjo, John Mayer (?!), Joss Stone (equally ?!), Norah Jones, Ryan Shaw, Son Volt and Tori Amos.

Is this what we're all doomed to turn into or does iTunes have a low opinion of what adults who do not want to listen to mainstream want to hear? Honestly, I would consider maybe 3 of those acts as "alternative," while the rest just seem to be NPR neo-country/neo-jazz. Of course, I suppose that is alternative in its own sense. How do we deal with aging as modern rockers? Should I just give up now and start buying the Ray LaMontagne back catalog and burn my Fugazi and Atari Teenage Riot CDs? *Sigh*

As Seen On TV: Amy Sedaris, Modest Mouse, BRMC, Arctic Monkeys and more!

imaginary liz — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:51:19 +0000

For as many listings we've got this week, there's nothing I'm super excited about. Amy Sedaris is always a hoot (she and Letterman have quite the banter). Kaiser Chiefs are all over the place, and Alice Cooper chatting up Carson Daly (or vice versa) could be interesting.

Traffic and Weather

ChrisB — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 08:06:27 +0000

7.1

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000N4SKFK/wwwthreeimagi-20

fountainsofwayne07apr.jpg

A few years ago, rock writer Michael Azerrad wrote a book that profiled several underground rock bands from the 1980s to early 1990s. It's a terrific book that everyone should read. But the title, Our Band Could Be Your Life, always bugged me. I know it came from that song by the Minutemen, but there's no way my life could have resembled any of these bands. If you were anything like Henry Rollins, we would not be friends.

My life is fairly ordinary, so I find it easy to fall for a band that writes songs about average, ordinary people. The heroes (or at least protagonists) of songs by Fountains of Wayne all have dull jobs, crappy cars, loneliness and financial issues, or similar problems. Or, more accurately, as one wise reviewer put it, "Fountains of Wayne earned their fanbase by writing songs for socially awkward people in their twenties and thirties who just are not quite ready for the real world." OK, I wrote that, but it's apt.

It is not just that Messrs. Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger write pop songs about unremarkable people that make their band. It's also that the songs are insanely catchy, have tons of hooks, and that Collingwood has the perfect bubblegum voice to bring the songs to life.

Take, for example, “Strapped For Cash,” which starts out with keyboards that sounds like Supertramp’s “The Logical Song," but picks up the pace and begins with tale of a guy who falls in debt to some unsavory characters and just can’t catch a break. “So I headed out west to invest in the races, all the goddamn horses kept falling on their faces; didn’t fare much better at the Taj Mahal, chalk it up to bad luck and free alcohol,” Collingwood sings which is, of course, unfortunate, but we’re also let in on the joke and can laugh at the predicament the character gets himself into.

The title track, “Traffic and Weather” is the story of a local news anchor lusting after his co-host. It is very Ron Burgundy-esque. It might border on creepy (one anchor says, “I like those shorts, I’ve never seen them before, I’d like them even more, lying on my bedroom floor.”) if the song weren't so upbeat and disarmingly funny (and if we could not picture Will Ferrell singing “We belong together like traffic and weather” to Christina Applegate). This is a band whose biggest single was a tale of a guy lusting after his girlfriend’s mom, after all.

Another standout track is the single “Somebody to Love,” which has many of the same elements that made “Stacy’s Mom” a hit: memorable lyrics and backing harmonies (this time provided by Melissa Auf Der Mar, the former Smashing Pumpkins bassist has never sounded better). It's the story of two lonely professional singles -- Seth Shapiro is a lawyer who calls his mom and likes Coldplay; Beth Mackenzie is a photo editor, which is the “job of her dreams – retouching photos for a magazine aimed at teens.” -- meeting and falling in love in an indefatigablely optimistic pop song. Plus, Fountains of Wayne may also be the first band to write a song about having a crush on a girl at the DMV (“Yolanda Hayes”).

It has been about four years since the last proper FOW record, the brilliant Welcome Interstate Managers, and the FOW output during that gap has been good but uninspired (a collection of b-sides and a song for an animated movie, among others). Traffic and Weather is not perfect: the metaphor of waiting for a taxi in the rain is used twice in songs about loneliness (“Somebody to Love” and “The Hotel Majestic”) and not every song works (“Michael and Heather at the Baggage Claim” is sweet but its lyrics are simple and lack the cleverness of countless other songs in the deep FOW catalogue). But overall the album is very good news for socially awkward power-pop music fans like me.

But overall the album is very good news for socially awkward power-pop music fans like me.

Kings of the Hill ... Sort of...

Erik Gonzalez — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:16:48 +0000

And to show you what a megahit like "Stacy's Mom" buys you, Fountains of Wayne's new album debuted at ... #97. Ouch. Such short memories we Americans can have for bubblegum pop-rock.

Out-of-State Plates

ChrisB — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 07:00:00 +0000

6.5

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009OL808/wwwthreeimagi-20

fountainsOW05jul.jpg

Listening to a two-disc collection of b-sides can be akin to having dinner at the Old Country Buffet. There's often a lot for consumption, and it is not going to be too terribly expensive — but in the end it is still not very good. In that sense, New Jersey's Fountains of Wayne's latest, Out-of-State Plates is no exception.

Plates was released, presumably, to appease FOW fans who have been eagerly anticipating a follow-up to their 2003 masterpiece, Welcome Interstate Managers, their third full-length album that earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist making them leaders of the ridiculously named "power pop" genre (thanks to the song "Stacy's Mom"). Whether or not their claims to fame are apt or not, Fountains of Wayne earned their fanbase by writing songs for socially awkward people in their twenties and thirties who just are not quite ready for the real world.

Even though some of the songs on Plates appear unfinished, FOW prove that they still have a knack for capturing mundane life in suburbia. One highlight is "I'll Do The Driving" — which is sonically very similar to "Supercollider" from Managers. It is a tale of a relationship where the connection is not cerebral. It contains the clever lyrics, "We're out, the jukebox plays 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' / She says 'I love Johnny Cash — The Man In Red' / I turn my head and pretend I don't hear what she said."

Some of the songs are a little kitsch-y, particularly "California Sex Lawyer" and "I Want an Alien for Christmas". But the single "Maureen" is as catchy as anything in the deep FOW catalogue while their stripped-down, slowed-down version of Britney Spears's "...Baby One More Time" brings in a bit of hook-laden novelty.

Plates is nothing if not a gentle reminder to revisit the previous output. And it should spurn the newly converted to seek out the same previous albums — Managers in particular for FOW is arguably the best pop rock band in America today. While you may not start with Out-of-State Plates, chances are you will end up there.

FOW prove that they still have a knack for capturing mundane life in suburbia.