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Amazon.co.uk Review Loads of New York bands have written songs about their home towns. Few, however, have focused on the suburbs of the City That Never Sleeps: the tree-lined streets populated by commuters and shopping malls that make up much of New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island. This is the world of disaffected youth, the "gee-whiz" America of Frank Capra films colliding with the suburban nightmare of Amityville (which is, after all, a town on Long Island). Utopia Parkway is, in effect, a concept album about the world that's just a short train journey from Manhattan yet an eternity away from big city life. Songwriting duo Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger--the creative forces behind the Fountains Of Wayne--treat their subject with humour and dignity, singing about the lives and dreams of the suburbanites who populate their songs against a backdrop of soccer moms and high school proms. Moreover, the songs are flawless gems of guitar-driven pop perfection, like Teenage Fanclub at their best, running the gamut from fine to fantastic: from the rocking single "Denise" to the vintage pop of "Laser Show" and "The Valley Of Malls" to the witticisms of "Red Dragon Tattoo" ("Now I look a little more like that guy from Korn"). Utopia Parkway is a knowing portrait of a neglected aspect of American life and--most importantly--a perfect pop album. --Robert Burrow
Description Fountains of Wayne turn self-conscious alt-rock geekdom into an unassailable art form on their second album UTOPIA PARKWAY. They combine classic power-pop song structure with a knack for the killer hook and an endless supply of self-referential lyrics detailing the lives of East Coast hipsters growing up in the postmodern age. Perfect pop harmonies, ringingguitars and the occasional synth sweep (for retro new wave credibility) match lyrics about "playing in a cover band" and taking "the N train down to Coney Island". It quickly becomes plain that the outsider edge of the songs comes fromthe fact that the songs' characters are kids from the 'burbs who enter the city in search of deliverance, or at least relief from boredom. This scenario's apex is reached on "Laser Show", about driving into New York City's Hayden Planetarium to see Pink Floyd and Metallica laser shows. God bless those who write about what they know.
1. Utopia Parkway
2. Red Dragon Tattoo
3. Denise
4. Hat And Feet
5. Valley Of Malls
6. Troubled Times
7. Go Hippie
8. Fine Day For A Parade
9. Amity Gardens
10. Laser Show
11. Lost In Space
12. Prom Theme
13. It Must Be Summer
14. Senator's Daughter
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