Like The Wondermints, or to a lesser extent the now defunct (or
shortened) Ben Folds Five, Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger have got a pretty firm grip on their chosen musical genre. Text books on late 50's, early 60's power pop and rock are well thumbed and they couple this knowledge well with tongue in cheek lyrics, poking fun at the past and present. Their self titled debut album and sophomore effort Utopia Parkway stood them out as fine practitioners of their art, even being asked to help out on the soundtrack to the Tom Hanks film, 'That Thing You Do.' (although The Wondermints went one up on them when Brian Wilson asked them to be his backing band on his last few solo tours).
Welcome Interstate Managers carries all of the signatures of F.O.W.'s previous work. The opening three tracks (and strongest on the album), Mexican Wine, Bright Future In Sales and the single release Stacy's Mom are all excellent examples of their power pop craft. All instantly memorable, crisp harmonies mingling with sugary melodies and, in the case of Mexican Wine, one that rocks out too. Unfortunately the rest of the album does not sustain this high quality, and only peaks sporadically.
That said, they have tried to encompass more diversity in the songs throughout the album, from more acoustic mellowness of Valley Winter Song and and Hey Julie, to the surprising Nashville pop of Hung Up On You, on which they enlist pedal steel wizard Robert Randolph. It is a pity they could not have trimmed the record somewhat. With a total of sixteen songs on the album, it is too long for a band which operates within this style of music, even though they tried to mix it up this time round. A more clinical and lean album, saving some of the tracks like Fire Island and All Kinds Of Time for B-sides would have made for a more well balanced release.
In any case Welcome Interstate Managers is still a fine album, and Fountains Of Wayne, after their hiatus have come back and picked up exactly where they left off. Which is no bad thing, I can tell you. |