Fountains Of Wayne
Out-Of-State Plates
On Sale Now
For $12.48

You can always count on Fountains of Wayne to be… Fountains of Wayne. The kings of power pop should’ve attained success many moons ago, when their flawless self-titled debut was released on James Iha’s label Scratchie Records. Then their second record, Utopia Parkway was even better and even made Entertainment Weekly’s top ten list that year (and mine as well). Ironically, their weakest effort was the one that earned them mainstream success mostly on the strength of its killer lead single “Stacy’s Mom,” accompanied by a tacky porn-star starring video. It’s not that FOW had sold out, but they did lose something by going overindulging. Welcome Interstate Managers was an overlong but sometimes indelible pop record marred by some forgettable inclusions like “Little Red Light” or “Fire Island.”

The same could be said of their double record, Out-Of-State Plates, but it’s not fair to dismiss what is essentially a collection of B-sides and runaway tracks that nearly got away. Some gems are rediscovered such as the old-school phat jam “California Sex Lawyer” from their earlier sessions. The best that can be said about this particular endeavor is that it will attract new fans to some of their older material, prompting them to come to the epiphany that these guys have been crafting their art for nearly a decade, and doing it incredibly well since the beginning. But sore thumbs include the Ricky Nelson-homage “Today’s Teardrops” and the ELO cover of “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head” both of which are tacked on and gratuitous. Travis did “Baby One More Time” long before FOW touched it, and their version included here is sorely mediocre. The Christmas songs are novelty at best and also could’ve been left back in the stacks of DAT. It may be a sad, albeit chestnut case of another double effort that would’ve been better with more trimming, but it’s worth picking up for the discoveries of some lost tunes that might have been discarded had it not been for their overnight success a couple years back. Standouts include new contribution “The Girl I Can’t Forget,” and the acoustic sonnet “I’ll Do The Driving” which tugs at the heartstrings in a way that Chris Martin could never accomplish. There is an air of simplicity to a song that plays more like a journal entry as a guy meets a drunk girl at a party and tries to carry a conversation with her. At one point she calls Johnny Cash, the man in red, and he nearly loses interest completely. The beauty of these tracks is that FOW has a sense of storytelling and humor while never taking themselves too seriously; incorporating pop culture references at the drop of a side stick, and earnestly bringing spontaneous sentimentality that represents pop music at its most gratifying. This is a band that has long deserved to climb the charts and proves that pop rock doesn’t always have to pander to the lowest common denominator. These guys have the melodic skills and smarts to pay the bills and although their first two records are definitely the places to start, Out-Of-State Plates is an amicable collection that is worthy of the band’s already solid resume.

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