Fountains of Wayne - SkyFull Of Holes

Tue 29th Nov, 2011 in Music Reviews

American power-pop heroes Fountains Of Wayne have mellowed considerably for their fifth studio album, Sky Full Of Holes. While the band made waves abroad with their gimmicky hit Stacey’s Mom, claiming also an admirable following over their fifteen year career, they haven’t quite conquered Australian hearts with the same ease. Is this the album through which Fountains Of Wayne could finally turn heads? Unfortunately, it seems unlikely.

Fountains Of Wayne profess a wholly simplistic brand of pop-rock that lives and dies by the storytelling charisma of frontman Chris Collingwood. As much as his distinctive nasally delivery is a unique commodity, Collingwood also possesses a definitive knack for setting a scene through song. Sky Full Of Holes showcases Collingwood’s rich tapestry of characters and locale as per usual, each springing to life with ease. If you can forgive his verbosity and a penchant for idiosyncratic detail, it’s simple enough to find yourself immersed within their world. Richie and Ruben a fine example of their song craft, carving out a light-hearted tale pertaining to two swindling businessmen way out of their depth.

Meanwhile, Acela also ranks among the stand-outs, the pristine acoustic funk taking cues from The Beatles’ later years. A Dip In The Ocean offers a spot of generic holiday frivolity before a kind mellow pop-rock haze takes hold in the dreamy Cold Comfort Flowers. A Road Song then commands a disarming sweetness, Collingwood’s romance and separation anxiety laid bare.

It’s fortunate that Fountains Of Wayne have a talented troubadour in their midst, as their instrumental output appears crushingly academic here. Unfortunately, there’s an acoustic-based commonality in play. The album offers little deviation from its norm, the same tired backdrop employed time and again. With few tricks up the band’s sleeve the time around, listeners can expect any patience for a shake-up or a slight detour to go unrewarded. Only Cold Comfort Flowers and Radio Bar offer some respite, though the latter is a little on the naff side, a cheesy brass section and its childlike enthusiasm killing off the song’s appeal.

Sky Full Of Holes is an innocuous body of work, without the charm nor the potency of, for example, Welcome Interstate Managers (arguably the band’s finest release of their career). While it does conceal a certain allure that should be familiar to long time fans, the record lacks a certain punch and material strong enough to warrant urgent investigation.