I always know what I'm getting with Fountains of Wayne. It's the best of power pop and finest of story telling. It is summer and the sun is out. The heat is melting everything and going outside is as enticing as it is taxing. So I was looking for a real windows down album. I think you find that here. These are great stories. Great songs. 

We start off strong and power through. "Someone to Love" is an amazing story with fantastic lyrics and great vibe. When that chorus comes in I can't help but sing along. "Yolanda Hayes" is a perfect slice of the magic in the ordinary. A perfectly dreary DMV visit with the overtones of what we have in our brains. "Fire in the canyon" brings us back to dabble in folk and country. It seems to show up on every album but, I certainly can't complain. "This Better Be Good" is an outrageous and loud track with great hooks and a catchy chorus. I particularly like "New Routine" with its everybody wants to be somewhere else feeling. It certainly feels good to blast and sing. I'm just highlighting a few favorites here. I'm skipping a lot of good soft songs. Some great stories. The vibes on this one are really off the chart. With big hooks and outlandish tones to draw you in.

I can't help but love everything from Fountains of Wayne. Even the songs I don't really like will still get played. I love the absurdism. The stories are great. The music digestable but still interesting. These songs still hold power after all these years. It would be easy for stories to fall behind. To lose relevancy as we march forward into new stories and new lives lived. But, they hold to those little relateable moments in our life. We have all had an hour in the shower be the best in the day. And I think we can all use the optimism that comes across in these situations. To not give up. To spin a globe and end up in Liechtenstein. That in the weary everyday we are not alone. It doesn't hurt that it comes in a jammy power pop wrapper.