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Rating: "Traffic And Weather" is the fourth studio album by the American band Fountains Of Wayne. For those who don't know them, they are the band that a few years ago (it was 2003) released the super-hit "Stacy's Mom," widely known for the music video in which a young boy masturbates while watching his girlfriend's mom (played by the stunning Rachel Hunter).
Fountains Of Wayne boast numerous excellent fans (including Elton John and Stephen King), and many of their songs have been used in various successful series like Scrubs and Veronica Mars.
The successor to "Welcome Interstate Managers," the album from which "Stacy's Mom" is taken, is this "Traffic And Weather".
Released by Virgin and produced by Adam Schlesinger, Chris Collingwood, and Mike Denneen, the album contains fourteen new tracks, including some collaborations, among which is the beautiful former bassist of Smashing Pumpkins and Hole, Melissa Auf Der Maur, who contributes backing vocals on the first single "Someone To Love". Another former "pumpkin," James Iha, is present as an additional guitarist on "Seatbacks And Traytables".
The aforementioned "Someone To Love" opens the album and is a flawless pop rock track, winking at fun and playful disco atmospheres, followed closely by "92 Subaru", which instead shifts to power pop tracks more in line with the band's past production. "Yolanda Hayes" boasts more British than American atmospheres, where the guitars remain an accompanying element without overshadowing the piece's melodic line; suddenly a curious trumpet solo appears. The subsequent title track is among the best of the new work and seems like a cross between the less cerebral and more blatantly "pop" R.E.M. (especially in the vocals) and the more accessible and less "drugged" Dandy Warhols. "Fire In The Canyon" (as well as "Planet Of Weed") clashes the typically American country and the hazy melody of the Coral with decidedly American atmospheres (with whom the Fountains shared the sessions for the latest album "Here & Now," and you can tell), and anticipates "This Better Be Good", suspended between the lullaby-like verse and the electric rollercoaster of the chorus (strictly in syncopation). "Revolving Dora" heavily cites, especially in the vocals, the Beatles, but for a group aspiring to play good pop rock, this is certainly not unusual. "Michael And Heather At The Baggage Claim" resurrects typically American acoustic atmospheres, seasoning them with a charming little choir that completes a delicate and intimate picture, pleasant and engaging. "Strapped For Cash" boasts one of the most valid and incisive melodies of the album, enriched by a particular accompaniment of wind instruments and vintage video game electronic sounds. "I-95" mentions Guns N' Roses in the lyrics, but the acoustic accompaniment seems to be stolen from a Noel Gallagher notebook. Hearing the keyboard-dominated intro of "Hotel Majestic", instead, makes it impossible not to think of the 1980s, even if the piece subsequently develops mainly around excellent guitar work (and a nice solo). Inevitable, even though almost at the end, is to mention the "fathers" Weezer in "New Routine" (though keyboards appear again). The closing, instead, is entrusted to the already mentioned collaboration with James Iha, "Seatbacks And Traytables", delicate and melancholic.
"Traffic And Weather", ultimately, confirms that Fountains Of Wayne know how to write beautiful songs, and in the end, that's what really matters. Not a big deal if the approach of the new album turns out to be more pop and delicate than usual.
Once again, they pass with flying colors.
Tracklist and Lyrics
07 Revolving Dora (02:41)
Oh yeah
Revolving Dora
Hits the floor alone again
See her spinning, see her grinning at her imaginary friends
She's in her own rotating world
There's something blurry about that girl
Oh yeah
And she's turning out to be
Immune to gravity
She's a lot like you
Not much like me
Oh yeah
Revolving Dora Seems so sure about it all
She knows the score
So long before the morning papers make the call
And she's searching around the dial
For a song that'll make her smile
And she's turning out to be
Immune to gravity
And I don't know the degree
Of her grip on reality
But she sure has got a hold on me
Oh yeah
14 Seatbacks and Traytables (03:30)
Seatbacks and traytables up
Stow all your luggage and cups
We're about to touch down
Midwestern town
Through the haze
Customs' a massive expense
And I'm digging into my pants
Is this Oklahoma?
I remember this place
Trade one town for another
Delayed
Now why did we bother
An X on the calendar square
New city, same stuff
Seatbacks and traytables up
Seatbacks and traytables up
Seatbacks and traytables please
Suddenly I can't feel my knees
Second-run movies
In-flight shopping magazines
Wheezing the air up there
Got me a backache somewhere
Is that Santa Barbara
I've been there before
Trade one town for another
Delayed
Now why did we bother
An X on the calendar square
New city, same stuff
Seatbacks and traytables up
Seatbacks and traytables up
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