Chris DeLine

It would be nice to think that there aren’t songs that make music fans never want to hear a band’s name again, but sadly, such things happen. And typically, when they do, those bands are branded with the nefarious label of one-hit wonder. But sometimes a band is unjustly clumped in with the pack due to the immense success of a single. Some might argue that Fountains of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom” is one such song, and that FoW are one such band. Though originally forming some 14 years ago, the group received only a scattered response to their pop rock until they rose to prominence in the early ’00s, primarily with the aforementioned 2003 single. For a period of time the song was ubiquitous. It became the number-one music video in rotation on MTV and VH1, took the number-one spot on iTunes’ Most Downloaded Songs list, and was the only single by the band to ever land in the U.S. Hot 100 (peaking at 21). No one-hit wonder, though, the band continued on and in 2007 released Traffic and Weather, arguably their best-received album to date. Now FoW are taking to the road, showcasing songs old and new (they’re rumored to be performing material from their forthcoming album, which is still in the works) on a full-band acoustic tour across the East Coast and Midwest. Joining the band will be co-founder of the Posies, Jon Auer, who will also be performing an acoustic set. All ages.

[This critics’ pick was originally published by City Pages.]