does fountains of wayne still exists as a band and what to you think of them

Adam has stated before that the reason for the length in between albums was always Chris. Chris, after each album, doesn't want to do anything again until he feels like it. He always indicates he's over the band.

Hopefully this is just another hibernation period. Adam did state Chris indicated that he wanted to get this new album out before anything else. So I guess we'll see.

 

With Sky Full Of Holes I was a bit frustrated only the Japanese edition had two extra tracks.

 

My favourite FOW track is "No Better Place". Can't get enough of that song.

 

I just listened to the streaming of Look Park, and while I like the arrangements (apart from the choir on Shout pt1) I have trouble getting to grips with Chris's voice carrying all the songs.

Yep Roc Music Group »

 

Can a gort please fix the title?

 

I think Schlesinger contributed songs to the new Monkees record...they had a string of really good records with very catchy tunes...they probably would have been multi-millionaires if they had been around in the era of top 40 radio.

 

A related question: is one of Schlesinger's other bands, Ivy, still around? It's been five years since All Hours. I know five years isn't THAT long these days, but it's long enough to start wondering.

 

They have a classic Christmas song that should be played everywhere: The Man in the Santa Suit

 

From my understanding, both Ivy and Fountains Of Wayne exist whenever they feel the desire to put a new album out. Otherwise, the individual members are free to do whatever the feel like in the interum.

With Ivy, I think both Andy Chase and Dominique Durand (who are married, despite the different last names) have decided to focus more on their family life of late. Andy's solo band Camera2 (formerly Brookville) last released an EP in 2014. I'd love a new Ivy album, though.

 

He not only contributed songs to it, but he played on and produced it, as well.

 

I always liked FOW but like many others, felt their albums contained fewer gems as they went along. "Traffic & Weather" was a huge letdown for me but I can't get enough of the track "This Better Be Good". I did feel like "Sky Full of Holes" was a nice rebound and is a good album.

I feel the same way about Ivy. Excellent stuff early on but a decline in consistently high quality songs further on.

 

Doesn't he sing all the Fountains of Wayne songs?

 

Exactly.

 

This is my favorite song by them...

 

I'm not following... I guess I misunderstood what you meant.

 

Also, I Want An Alien For Christmas.

 

This solo material shows the shortcomings in his voice, imo.

 

Right. I haven't heard the album but I can guess that what works for humorous power pop might not cut it in a less chipper context.

 

Apparently their last album was titled: The Monkees - Good Times!

 

I agree that, for some reason, the new album does tend to expose Chris's voice a bit more than the usual FoW fare. Maybe more whine than the usual snark?

And... I personally miss the powerpop aspect.

 

I don't know much FoW but I did know that the two main writers were very popular songwriters who have made tight, catchy, hook-y hits for many.

But I'm surprised to see nobody mention "Hey Julie", the only song of theirs I really know. It's a 3-minute master class in pop song craftsmanship that would be a top-3 theme song for a sitcom ever. I'm always shocked that it isn't and wonder if they did in fact write it for some forgotten pilot.

I'm seeing a kind of "Drew Carey Show" meets "Herman's Head" premise of a young white-collar man in a Midwestern city who always talks about his zany job and awkward romantic misadventures down at the Typical Watering Hole with his grade school pal and Girl Next Street Over, Julie, and she likewise, never realizing that they are Meant For Each Other.

The Very Special Episode at the end of Season 3 where they finally get together would however use Survivor's "The Search is Over" as underscoring. To start Season 4 Julie is Horribly Confused and opening up to her two new BFFs who will be recurring chars like the way M. Biyalik and M. Rausch saved Big Bang Theory....

 

I think Traffic and Weather is a minor masterpiece, and love Welcome Interstate Managers as well... Lot of great songs, lot of variety.

 

This is an under-appreciated post.

 

I was pleased to see that three out of four Fountains played on Good Times. I'm always interested to run across under-the-radar reunions like that. I picked up Dan Wilson's solo album, Free Life, and the other guys from Semisonic are on there in various configurations. Dan's brother Matt turned up briefly as well, making the album one Elaine Harris shy of a Trip Shakespeare reunion.

 

I was trying to find out what happened to Ivy this evening, and saw that someone started a thread back in 2014 claiming they had broken up. However, I can find no evidence/announcement of the split on the web, so I'm hoping they might well come back at some point.