Additional personnel: James Iha, Jen Tryin (guitar); Ronnie Buttacavol (trumpet, flugelhorn).

Producers: Adam Schlesinger, Chris Collingwood, Mike Dennen.

Recorded at Stratosphere Sound, New York, New York; Q Division, Somerville, Massachusetts; The Clubhouse, Rhineback, New York.

Fountains Of Wayne was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. "Stacy's Mom" was nominated for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.

Personnel: Chris Collingwood, Jody Porter (vocals, guitar); Jennifer Trynin (guitar, background vocals); James Iha (guitar); Ronnie Buttacavoli (trumpet, flugelhorn); Brian Young (drums, percussion).

Audio Mixer: Tom Lord-Alge.

Recording information: Q Division, Somerville, MA; STratosphere Sound, New York, NY; The Clubhouse, Rhinebeck, NY.

Photographer: Joseph Cultice.

Fans waiting for Fountains of Wayne to finally quit goofing around and release a sonically experimental, brooding collection of "serious music" are just going to have to keep waiting. Luckily, the number of their listeners hoping for anything besides another infectious batch of sunny singalong numbers from Adam Schlesinger, Chris Collingwood, and company is probably about the same as the number of people waiting for the White Stripes to record a smooth jazz record. On the mind-numbingly charming Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne do what they do best. And while they reinforce their reputation as the reigning deities of uptempo, big-guitar pop/rock with feel-good anthems like "Mexican Wine," "Bright Future in Sales," "Stacy's Mom," and "Little Red Light," they also continue their proud tradition of mellow yet equally tongue-in-cheek tunes. While their debut album had "Sick Day" and "You Curse at Girls," and Utopia Parkway featured "Prom Theme" and "The Senator's Daughter," Welcome Interstate Managers introduces "Fire Island," a plea to be left home alone when the parents go on vacation, and "All Kinds of Time," perhaps the best (and first) musical interpretation of a slow-motion football replay ever recorded. But the bouncing acoustic guitars of "Hey Julie" are definitely the high point. This time, the one flaw may simply be that the group doesn't know when to say when. Their two previous releases closed with lazy ballads, and this time they build to a perfect finale with "Fire Island." Unfortunately, they follow it with four more songs that add little to the quality of the album. Still, CD players were made with skip buttons for a reason, and too much material is usually preferable to too little. Even without the last four tracks, Welcome Interstate Managers had more than enough pitch-perfect melodies and smile-inducing lyrics to make it a defining album for the summer of 2003. And if that's not your thing, well, maybe some winter they'll finally put out that somber record you've been waiting for. ~ Mark Vanderhoff

Following a four-year hiatus that found Fountains of Wayne going from Atlantic Records to S-Curve Records, New Jersey's favorite power-pop outfit delivers WELCOME INTERSTATE MANAGERS, the band's third opus. FOW does an excellent job of capturing the suburban zeitgeist that dates back to the band's name (derived from a Garden State backyard fixtures emporium) and carrying on from 1999's excellent UTOPIA PARKWAY.

Wielding boatloads of hooks and harmonies, Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood delight with songs about high school sweethearts (the melancholy "Hackensack"), a good woman's love in the face of a crap job (a sweet, semi-acoustic "Hey Julie"), and exploding cell phones (an anthemic "Mexican Wine"). With its handclaps, rad harmonies and perky synths, the irresistible "Stacy's Mom" fantasizes about a best friend's mom, and seems tailor-made for any future American Pie sequels. Other pop manna includes the Beatlesque "Fire Island," the country-fried "Hung Up On You" (featuring guest lap steel player Robert Randolph), and the Brit-pop psychedelia of "No Better Place." WELCOME INTERSTATE MANAGERS easily notches a place on any Best of 2003 list.