Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes

Fountains of Wayne - Venerable, beloved and Grammy-nominated NY/NJ power popsters led by Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood mark a 15th anniversary with their fifth studio album and first since 2009's well-received Traffic and Weather...FoW again show exactly how to create concise, witty, markedly melodic songs that meld finely crafted pop and rock elements and character-driven lyrical narratives into a seamless, smile-inducing amalgam... easily one of the best American bands // Release: Sky Full of Holes (August 2, Yep Roc) // Sounds like: the usual, uniquely Wayne-like mix of hummable power pop and lovely acoustic slow dances..."songs like 'The Summer Place' and "Richie And Ruben" showcase the band's renowned storytelling abilities and flair for creating memorable characters; elsewhere, they take a more impressionistic approach, as in the shimmering 'Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart' and the elegiac 'Cemetery Guns'"... // Quote: "I think the only reason that we were able to keep working together, is that musically we really do see things the same a lot of the time, and we both really trust each other's judgment, so on that level it still works really well." - Adam Schlesinger on his long relationships with Chris Collingwood // What we like: the endlessly engaging "Richie Rubin" chugs along with a timeless flair, seriously unserious fun that could have been made at any time over the past fifty years...how can you beat an opening line like "staring at the sun with no pants on" from the Beach Boys-meet-Cheap-Trick propulsion of "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart"?

Fountains of Wayne - "Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart" (from Sky Full of Holes)

Fountains of Wayne - "Richie And Ruben" (from Sky Full of Holes)