Inspired by this thread I have decided to buy a Fountains of Wayne CD. There seems to be 2 main ones “Fountains of Wayne” and “Utopia Parkway”. Maybe I should get them both, but I’m going to buy one of them first. Which one should I get? Can you give me some reasons or comparisons? I have heard them compared to some artists I really like, like: The Flaming Lips, Matthew Sweet, Robyn Hitchcock, Melvins, Meat Puppets, XTC, The Figgs, They Might Be Giants and Big Star… if that might help direct your recommendation.
Both albums seem to me to be nearly interchangable (not that it’s really a bad thing). I prefer the first one myself, perhaps because I still remember the first time I heard “Radiation Vibe” on the radio. (Remember when you used to hear cool songs from new bands on the radio?) I began to lose faith in the direction popular music was heading when that song didn’t become a huge, huge, huge hit.
If you’re wondering what they sound like, they do the Crank Yankers theme song on Comedy Central. And that’s basically the FoW sound on both albums.
I love their cover of “Baby Hit Me One More Time”
I bought Fountains of Wayne (the self titled album) just for Radiation Vibe.
Utopia Parkway is probably the stronger album, but both are good and have their strong points.
Are “Fountains of Wayne” from NJ? They must be because I grew up near Wayne and everyone knows the store “Fountains of Wayne.”
KidC, I’m not a huge FoW fan but I have heard that story before about them, so I think you’ve got it right.
Just my opinion here, but Utopia Parkway is the better of the two albums. There are some seriously addictive tunes on that album, infectious I believe is the word. Their first album suffers from having a little too much filler. Like I said, just my opinion.