World's Best Band
Jen and I, along with Mimi and friend Ani, saw the Beatles live in-concert last night.
Well, okay, it was Fountains of Wayne, really, but same thing.
They’ve got the dark-haired cherubic bass player who also composes at the piano, the simply smarter-than-you musical genius guitarist who belts out a song; the goofy drummer, and the ideal hippie dream hollow-body electric guitar player in suede boots.
And their songs and lyrics are perfectly crafted pop—catchy, melodic, with just the right amount of snottiness and irony, most of the time, except when they’re almost accidentally sincere.
It was an all-acoustic (well, except for the electric bass) but the band still managed to sound richly-layered and symphonic. They played all their hits—I guess that would just be “Stacy’s Mom”—but lots of my favorites from Welcome Interstate Managers including “Fire Island” and “Dragon Tatoo” but I liked best a tune called “I-95 “from their most recent album, (which I don’t have), Traffic and Weather.
The reason I never bought their latest was, I think, because I was thinking all their songs started to sound too much alike, and so, you’d be shuffling on iTunes and up would come another fountain of FOW, and you’d be all like, “Oh man, not another one; sounds just like those other ones.”
But after last night, seeing how pretty magically they generate their racket, I’m wanting to go ahead and gorge on them a bit.
Of course, the Triple Door, where they played, always makes things sound better.
John Auer, of the Posies, who opened the show was “complaining” ironically about what a shitty place to play it is and even all the grey-haired white folks who made up most of the crowd got the joke.
I thought it was either heartwarming or gag-inducing that all four of us could enjoy them; the kids sang along, not missing a single word in what about a year ago was their top hit, “Hey Julie.”
Well, okay, it was Fountains of Wayne, really, but same thing.
They’ve got the dark-haired cherubic bass player who also composes at the piano, the simply smarter-than-you musical genius guitarist who belts out a song; the goofy drummer, and the ideal hippie dream hollow-body electric guitar player in suede boots.
And their songs and lyrics are perfectly crafted pop—catchy, melodic, with just the right amount of snottiness and irony, most of the time, except when they’re almost accidentally sincere.
It was an all-acoustic (well, except for the electric bass) but the band still managed to sound richly-layered and symphonic. They played all their hits—I guess that would just be “Stacy’s Mom”—but lots of my favorites from Welcome Interstate Managers including “Fire Island” and “Dragon Tatoo” but I liked best a tune called “I-95 “from their most recent album, (which I don’t have), Traffic and Weather.
The reason I never bought their latest was, I think, because I was thinking all their songs started to sound too much alike, and so, you’d be shuffling on iTunes and up would come another fountain of FOW, and you’d be all like, “Oh man, not another one; sounds just like those other ones.”
But after last night, seeing how pretty magically they generate their racket, I’m wanting to go ahead and gorge on them a bit.
Of course, the Triple Door, where they played, always makes things sound better.
John Auer, of the Posies, who opened the show was “complaining” ironically about what a shitty place to play it is and even all the grey-haired white folks who made up most of the crowd got the joke.
I thought it was either heartwarming or gag-inducing that all four of us could enjoy them; the kids sang along, not missing a single word in what about a year ago was their top hit, “Hey Julie.”
posted by Professor Dave at 7:59 PM
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