Utopia Parkway (1999)

At first I was disappointed by this follow-up to FOW's great '96 debut, full of Weezer-like new-wave drollery and banalities about malls, tattoos, and Korn. Then I realized Utopia Parkway is actually an old-fashioned "concept album" about growing up in the New York/ Jersey suburbs. Oh. In that case — brill! If distance equals comedy, these guys aren't so far removed from their own youth that the narrative teen focus comes off as unduly ironic sociology. And Oasis would give up a week's worth of pints for any one of these pop hooks, though they'd never manage the humor or warmth. A

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