8. Look Park - Minor Is The Lonely Key
Fountains of Wayne are one of my favourite bands of the last 20 years. They only released five albums in that time, but I loved every one. Since their last one came out in 2011, I was hoping this might be the year they popped up to surprise us again. Imagine my heartbreak then, on hearing they'd called it a day... only to find some succour on discovering that half of the songwriting partnership behind FoW, Chris Collingwood, had formed a new band, Look Park.
Early interviews with Collingwood suggested that Look Park had a different sound to the traditional FoW power-pop and that his songwriting had also developed and "matured". That's a word which fills me with dread when I hear it from bands who excel at quirkiness and humour, and when Collingwood also revealed that his former FoW partner, Adam Schlesinger was responsible for putting more of the the f-u-n in FoUNtains, I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. (Collingwood even invoked the B-word as an influence, which is never a good sign. Oasis, anybody?)
Anyway, I like the Look Park record. Collingwood's voice is always a pleasure, and there are some beautiful images in his songwriting. It's a sad album though, and it lacks the wit and novelistic approach to character that made the Fountains so special. It's a fine solo album, but as with most solo albums, it does make you yearn to hear the full band get back together. (And let's face it, Look Park is a pretty bland band name.) I should probably spend a little time with Schlesinger's side-project, Tinted Windows while I'm waiting for the reunion Collingwood describes as unlikely.
Here's my favourite song on the record...
