Fountains Of Wayne

In late 2003, Fountains Of Wayne received a flattering, but rather puzzling, "Best New Artist" Grammy nomination (one of two categories in which they were named that year). This certainly made long-time fans chuckle; those in the know knew that Welcome Interstate Managers, the album that spawned the ubiquitous "Stacy's Mom" and topped critics' polls everywhere, was actually the New York-based group's third collection of melodic pop/rock gems. And far from being a flash in the pan, the quartet was considered by many to be — in the words of Robert Christgau — "peerless" and "true art heroes", or as Entertainment Weekly called them, "America's greatest extant rock and roll band." But FOW couldn't help enjoying the new-found attention as they began headlining bigger venues, topping charts on MTV and VH1, and appearing on a "Now That's What I Call Music" compilation CD next to the likes of Jay-Z, Nickelback and Black Eyed Peas.