Lyrics fuel Fountains of Wayne music
They are the kings of savvy lyrics, the guys who came up with gems like “I saw you talkin’ to Christopher Walken/on my TV screen” (“Hackensack”) or “I wonder if he ever has cried/because his kitten got run over and died” (“Leave the Biker”).
But Fountains of Wayne’s attention to lyrics isn’t rooted in contemporary music, according to singer and guitarist Chris Collingwood.
“I think a lot of pop music can be traced back to folk origins, where the lyrics are more important,” says Collingwood in advance of the band’s appearance Saturday at WYEP’s Rock the Block. “I think that, sometimes, if you separated lyrics from the music it just doesn’t look right on the page. I think a guy like (Harry) Nilsson, he’s one of the few guys who could do that, pull the music out of a song and make the lyrics look right. We spend enough time on it so it’s not just gibberish.”
The new Fountains of Wayne album, “Sky Full of Holes,” again blends keen wordplay with effervescent pop music. It’s the band’s first release since 2007, and Collingwood says the band seems to have fallen into a pattern of four-year cycles: recording albums, touring, taking a couple of years off, then, starting from scratch.
“Adam (Schlesinger, the band’s bassist and songwriter) is busy doing a lot of stuff, has projects he likes to do with TV and movies,” Collingwood says. “I really don’t have the same level of interest in that kind of stuff. For better or worse, that just seems like that’s the schedule we’re on. It just seems like we’re kind of ready after four years.”
So are its fans. While not huge in numbers, Fountains of Wayne does have a rabid constituency of acolytes who know the lyrics of every song. There also are casual followers who, undoubtedly, think the band is a one-hit wonder based on “Stacy’s Mom,” the hit song that had a memorable video featuring model Rachel Hunter. Would the band be willing to trade its generally favorable reviews for another song on the charts?
“It’s an interesting line to walk,” Collingwood says. “I notice the reviews that are negative tend to be misspelled and are full of grammatical errors. It’s interesting who you perceive your audience to be, and whether its worth it to dumb down your approach to get more people interested. The fact that we’re able to do this and have a career, and I don’t have to sit behind a desk every day is enough for me.
“Sky Full of Holes” features songs that have the same power-pop energy that fueled “Stacy’s Mom.” “Someone’s Going to Break Your Heart,” “The Summer Place,” “A Dip in the Ocean” and “Radio Bar” are infectious, radio-friendly tunes. But the album’s gem is the last track, “Cemetery Guns.” With lyrics about a military funeral — the album title “A Sky Full of Holes” refers to a 21-gun salute — it weaves martial drumming with a sweet, Americana-flavored melody.
Collingwood wrote “Cemetery Guns” without attending a military funeral. After finishing that song, an uncle who resided in Canonsburg, Washington County, and was a veteran, passed away.
At the cemetery, as his uncle was being buried, the song took on new meaning.
“That was my first experience with a military funeral,” Collingwood says. “It was pouring rain and just the most surreal experience.”
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