18. Fountains of Wayne Traffic and Weather
Usually, a Top 20 list (or a Top Anything list, i imagine) isn't the venue to air grievances, but I have a problem with Fountains of Wayne. They're arguably the finest pop songwriters working today, and I am convinced that there is a perfect album hidden inside each of their four releases. When they bring it, they're untouchable. The problem, however, is this: there are, with the possible exception of their debut record, one to three "Come on!! Why??" songs on each album. Not bad songs -- just too many steps down from the rest of the material. A little bit of what I like to call not bringin' it. A modest proposal: some quality control. Not Ryan Adams-level quality control, mind you. Just a bit.
That said, Traffic and Weather is another near-perfect record, and the first that I would classify as a grower. It's kinda refreshing to have an FoW record reveal its charms slowly; usually, I just leave my money on the pop nightstand and marvel at the effortlessness of it all. But the thing that most consistently knocks me out is their uncanny ability to wring genuine emotion from the seemingly mundane. Sure, they're clever. Sure, they're funny. And every once in a while, they're good for a kick-ass guitar solo. It's that extra layer, though -- the big-city loneliness of "Someone to Love," the restless ache of "New Routine," the unabashed sweetness of "Michael and Heather at the Baggage Claim" -- that makes them extraordinary.
I also got to see them live for the first time this year, and through a series of random acquaintances, had nachos and beer with the band after the show. Superfluous? You bet. But hey, that's blogging, folks.
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