Fountains of Wayne
Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood are masters of two disciplines: the three-minute power pop song, and the thumbnail sketch of tri-state suburban life.
In terms of the latter, each FOW album has progressively dealt with an older cohort, which in the case of their new album, "Traffic and Weather," is the thirty-something who's comfortable in his/her boring job and co-op condo. Marriage and kids should be the norm, but as pointed out so sensitively on the opener, finding "Someone to Love" when there's so much on TV and calories to burn isn't so easy anymore. Which means you find love where you can, even behind the counter at the DMV ("Yolanda Hayes") or on a jaunt to Lichtenstein ("New Routine"). In terms of the former, FOW is too proud to release a bum tune (though the country songs always sound like tokens), so you'll be humming these through Labor Day.
RED MARQUEE, 7/27, 8:30 pm
