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Bubbling Under the 75 Best Albums of 2011: Fountains of Wayne

Wednesday, Dec 14, 2011
This week we presented our Best 75 Albums of 2011. Here are several more just bubbling under the top 75...


cover art

Fountains of Wayne

Sky Full of Holes

(Yep Roc; US: 2 Aug 2011; UK: 1 Aug 2011)

Review [9.Aug.2011]


Fountains of Wayne
Sky Full of Holes


It’s hard to deny the songwriting ability of Fountains of Wayne co-founders Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood at this point. They’ve been putting out mostly-impeccable power-pop for the past 15 years, and Sky Full of Holes proves that they’ve still got it. Collingwood’s affable, conversational lead vocals always sound just right for the band, regardless of whether he’s singing one of Schlesinger’s detail-specific tracks (“Richie and Ruben”, “A Road Song”) or one of his own, more emotion-focused songs (the title track). Regardless of who does the writing, though, the big sing-along hooks are impossible to resist. From the aching chorus and “Whoa oh oh"s of “Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart” to the delicious three-part harmonies on “A Dip in the Ocean” to the unnecessary but totally fun horns in “Radio Bar”, Sky Full of Holes is Fountains of Wayne doing what they do best.


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Fountains of Wayne are like catnip to music nerds and rock critics. Sky Full of Holes proves that their stuff is as potent as ever.
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