Troubled Times: Fountains of Wayne’s Utopia Parkway Turns 25

The 1990s found the genre of power pop enjoying yet another resurgence.

Not on the Billboard charts, perhaps — but certainly in indie pop circles and among the genre’s faithful. Artists like Matthew Sweet, Material Issue, Jellyfish, The Rembrandts and that dog. managed to get airplay on college and alternative rock stations and, on occasion, even scored a hit!

Then in April of 1999 — right under the wire, as the millennium was coming to a close and Y2K fever was in the air — Fountains of Wayne delivered their sophomore set, Utopia Parkway, which is a power pop masterpiece. It was as if they let all those other bands give it the old college try and then said, “Nice work, boys, but this is how it’s done!”

Fountains of Wayne (named for a woebegone lawn ornament store in Northern New Jersey) had released their self-titled debut three years earlier. While it was certainly a decent disc that endeared them to power pop fans, there was little to suggest that their next album would be the quantum leap forward that Utopia Parkway was. Chalk it up to a couple of things. Fountains of Wayne had expanded from a duo — lead singer/songwriter Chris Collingwood and bassist/songwriter/producer Adam Schlesinger — to a full four-piece band with the addition of lead guitarist Jody Porter and drummer Brian Young. The main thing, however, was the songs. There are 14 of them on Utopia Parkway and not a clunker in the bunch. The album expands on the power pop ethos they introduced on their debut, but takes the sound in some fresh new directions.

VIDEO: Fountains of Wayne “Denise”

Writing on AllMusic.com, Stephen Thomas Erlewine says, “[Fountains of Wayne] suffer from that peculiar ’90s ailment — detachment. For all their talent, and craftsmanship, the band don’t really dig deeper than the surface.” I agree with this, but only to an extent. There’s a preciousness to some of the Fountains’ lyrics that can feel like detachment. Having said that, there are also moments on Utopia Parkway — such as the song “Troubled Times” — where the cleverness and irony are gone and you’re simply left with a moving ballad. And even when the song lyrics do get a bit precious, the band’s melodies, harmonies and arrangements are so good that you don’t really care.

The album kicks off with the title track — a midtempo statement of intent with a synth line worthy of The Cars circa 1979. From there we get back to back rockers. “Red Dragon Tattoo” follows the journey (literal and figurative) of a guy who, in an effort to get the girl he wants, goes to Coney Island to get inked. Beyond the classic chorus of “In you I confide/Red Dragon Tattoo/I’m fit to be dyed/Am I fit you have you?,” we get lines like, “Will you stop pretending I’ve never been born/Now I look a little more like that guy from KoRn!” Sure, some of the references are time and place sensitive, but it’s a great song (not to mention a worthy successor to the first album’s “Leave the Biker”). That’s followed by the herky jerky “Denise,” another rocker which actually got some airplay back in the day. Up next is the more restrained “Hat and Feet,” which uses the immortal image of Wile E. Coyote being crushed by a boulder as a metaphor for a guy being dumped. Then comes “The Valley of Malls,” another cheeky rocker with a Northeast sensibility.

AUDIO: Dar Williams “Troubled Times”

And that leads us to the aforementioned “Troubled Times.” The album’s best ballad, it’s a breakup song — but unlike most Fountains of Wayne breakup songs, this one isn’t smart-assed or clever. Rather, it’s pretty and sincere — so much so that it was covered by singer-songwriter Dar Williams! (“It’s a deceptive song,” Williams told me in 2007. “It’s got this beautiful chorus of ‘Maybe it’ll all work out’ — and the verse completely betrays that! The way that they capture it without giving it away, without tilting their hand and saying ‘This guy’s kind of a loser,’ is beautiful.”) Side one comes to a close with “Go, Hippie,” a ballsy rocker that gives Jody Porter a chance to shine.

The second half of Utopia Parkway begins with “A Fine Day for a Parade,” which is the only track on the disc to crack the four-minute mark. A sad song, it’s a character study of one Mrs. Carver, a lonely woman who stays up at night drinking. That’s followed by “Amity Gardens,” a midtempo gem that finds the Fountains at their most McCartney-esque. Collingwood supposedly got the title from a Pennsylvania housing project that he lived in as a small boy. From there, it’s back to back rockers: the great “Laser Show” and “Lost in Space,” each barely two minutes long. The former song is a sendup of suburban kids who come to the city to get high, rock out and go to the Hayden Planetarium. “We’re gonna sit back, relax, watch the stars/James and Jason, Kirk and Lars” is a hilarious reference to Metallica. “Lost in Space,” equally concise, is about a girl who is in her own world.

From there, we get “Prom Theme” which, after the last two songs, feels like a dirge. Also, the lyrics on this one are a little obvious. “Prom Theme” isn’t awful, but it’s probably the only weak link on an otherwise stellar album. It’s immediately redeemed, however, by the pop anthem “It Must Be Summer,” three minutes and change of joy and melancholy. That leads us to the spooky ballad, “The Senator’s Daughter” — and to the end of Utopia Parkway. In 45 minutes, we feel like we’ve gone around the world (or at least driven through the entire tri-state area!).

It’s hard not to feel somewhat bittersweet when you listen to Utopia Parkway in light of Adam Schlesinger’s premature death. Fountains of Wayne was but one of his many projects. Schlesinger was also a member of the bands Ivy and Tinted Windows, he was a prolific writer for film and TV (who won three Emmy Awards!) and he produced and wrote for a ton of artists. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that Schlesinger was on his way to becoming the Burt Bacharach of his generation when COVID-19 claimed him on April Fool’s Day of 2020. He was 52.

As for Fountains of Wayne, they released three more studio efforts and hit pay dirt with the 2003 smash “Stacy’s Mom.” But to these ears, Utopia Parkway was their best and most consistent album. It will always be a route worth taking.

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Dave Steinfeld

Dave Steinfeld has been writing about music professionally since 1999. Since then, he has contributed to Bitch, BUST, Blurt, Classic Rock UK, Curve, Essence, No Depression, QueerForty, Spinner, Wide Open Country and all the major radio networks. Dave grew up in Connecticut and is currently based in New York City.

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