Utopia Parkway

Yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of the release of Fountains of Wayne's second, and in my opinion, best album, Utopia Parkway. The group, one of the best power pop bands ever, has a collection of songs that represent suburban America in all its greatness and banality.

The songs were written by founders Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger, and all have the feeling of a hazy memory of life as a young person in the suburbs. One of the songs could have served an alternative title, "The Valley of Malls," about traveling along the highways of America:

"And we're leaving all the road for dead
We're getting tired of the twists and turns
You gotta go when human nature calls
We're driving, we're driving
Through the valley of malls"

Collingwood's songs are a more serious, and reflect the downsides of this kind of life, such as the ironic "A Fine Day for a Parade":

"Years ago she lost her daughter
Off to a sacred order
Where they got stoned and worked the earth
Clears up her head with bourbon
Cause beer is so suburban
And declasse for what it's worth"

Schlesinger's songs are perkier, and funnier. His tribute to "Denise," a femme fatale of the mall set, is priceless:

"I heard she used to be married
She listens to Puff Daddy
She works at Liberty Travel
She got a heart made of gravel"

"Red Dragon Tattoo" is about a young man who gets inked to impress a girl:

"I hear the man say you want to see the others
A mermaid and a heart that says mother
But I don't know from maritime
And I never did hard time
I brought a .38 Special CD collection
Some Bactine to prevent infection
And in case I get queasy
A photo of Easy Rider"

Schlesinger, who wrote the theme song for That Thing You Do, and the songs for the musical version of Cry-Baby, seems most attuned for musical theater. According to Wikipedia he and Sarah Silverman are working on a show together, which I would love to see.

In later FOW albums the tone about suburbia and middle management became a little too sarcastic and condescending, but in Utopia Parkway, named after the ironically named road in Queens, New York, they hit their stride. Already it seems like a time capsule, with a song called "Laser Show" (are there any more laser shows set to Pink Floyd music?) and the instantly nostalgic "Prom Theme":

"Here we are at last
The moment soon will pass
We'll go our separate ways
We'll vanish in the haze
We'll never be the same
We'll forget each other's names
We'll grow old and lose our hair
It's all downhill from there"

Sigh. Yes, it's all downhill from there. And I didn't even go to my prom.