Fountains Of Wayne

Denise

Photo: Bmi.com

Good Morning!

Today we’re listening to “Denise” by Fountains Of Wayne

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I once read an interview with a writer for The Simpsons where he talked about working in what they called “1% jokes,” the idea being that the gags were obscure enough that maybe 1% of viewers would get the reference.

Fountains of Wayne’s stock-in-trade has always been to take quirky lyrics and marry them to sugar-sweet pop melodies. And their songs are chock-full of those sorts of references. If you get the reference, it’s like being in on the joke. And even when you don’t, the melodies are good enough that you wind up singing along anyway.

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More:

Throughout the record, they seem like the well-read, pop culture-saturated kids who sat in the back of the classroom, cracking jokes that only they can understand. Depending on your view, this either enhances the fun or keeps the record at a distance, because if you don't share their disdain for hippies, laser shows, proms, malls, and bikers, it will be a little hard to sing along with those glorious melodies.

In my mind, this is never truer than when the band works in a reference to Liberty Travel. Does anyone even go to travel agencies anymore?

Read the rest of the review here.

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Listen

“Denise” by Fountains Of Wayne| Utopia Parkway, 1999

Click the record to listen on your platform of choice.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this track!

Thanks for being here,

Kevin—

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