fountains of wayne

If you need something to lift your spirits during this grim time, or if the only FOW song you've ever heard is "Stacy's Mom" (which is a very good song, but not their best), you should hop on out and pick up Fountains of Wayne's new record, "Out of State Plates."

First of all, it's a bargain. You get 28 songs (okay, two are funny interview snippets), and who doesn't love a bargain?

But this is a terrific 2-CD set with more quirky guitar jangle and two minute servings of pop bliss than a sackful of Marshall Crenshaw.

These are all technically outtakes, but you certainly wouldn't guess it because these songs are just as good as anything they've released in their decade's worth of CDs.

My favorites are "Baby, I've Changed" (Liner notes from band: "Our recording contract requires us to have at least four songs per album that includethe word 'baby'.") and "I'll Do the Driving" (Liner notes from Chris Collingwood: "I don't know what I was thinking. This song pissed off my wife so much that I wish I'd never done it. And I recorded it at home, so she had to endure it all day. I should note that I just wrote a song called 'All Women Are Crazy'. That's probably not going to sit so well either."

They also have the best cover ever of Britney's "Hit Me Baby One More Time" on the CD, and other covers of stuff by of ELO, Gene Pitney, Jackson Browne, Bacharach/David and Aztec Camera.

This is cheery, tight powerpop with really fun, funny lyrics.

Check it out.