Fountains of Wayne/Ivy co-founder and bassist Adam Schlesinger and ex-Smashing Pumpkins/A Perfect Circle guitarist James Iha may have started out on different paths along the alt-rock spectrum, but since the mid-1990s these two well-respected musicians and producers have been close friends and collaborators.
In addition to co-founding the Scratchie Records imprint and Stratosphere Sound studio in New York City, these two have toured together – Fountains of Wayne opened for the Pumpkins in the mid-1990s – and guested on many of their respective bands’ albums over the years. Iha has played guitar or added vocals to Ivy and FofW albums, while Schlesinger contributed piano/bass guitar on Iha’s lone solo record Let It Come Down and piano on Pumpkins tunes, including the Iha-penned "The Bells."
Schlesinger has also been longtime friends with Taylor Hanson of the Hanson Brothers, and Iha with Cheap Trick through the iconic Chicago group’s longstanding friendship with members of fellow Chicago natives, the Pumpkins.
Somehow, Schlesinger found time between FofW and other projects to get this odd mix of friends and associates together to form a supergroup of sorts, record a self-titled album and tour behind it, including a stop at SXSW and an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in recent months.
Leadoff track "Kind Of A Girl" was written by Schlesinger, yet sees Hanson asserting himself as a frontman and Iha turning up his guitars to make his presence loud and clear as lead guitarist, something he hasn’t been since his pre-Pumpkins days (if you don’t include his one-off solo project in 1998). Catchy "uh ohs" and "whoas" carry the choruses while a short, phaser-propelled flashy solo by Iha hints back (barely) to his early Pumpkins contributions (think "Plume").
After this strong start, there isn’t anything particularly memorable until the frustrated pop punk of "Can’t Get A Read On You" and the lovely, steady Iha-penned "Back With You" counter-balance each other as a solid one-two punch.
Article comments
1 - Laura Faeth
As a Cheap Trick fan, I bought the Tinted Windows CD out of curiosity. I wanted to see what this unusual group of guys would create. They created an earworm of a CD. The songs kept repeating in my head. I didn't listen for several days in an attempt to stop the catchy tunes from incessantly cycling through my mind.
There is nothing in this music that is revolutionary or unique, but it's fun. And my 8 and 10 yr old girls and their friends are diggin' it too. Hanson may not have the pipes of Robin Zander, but he doesn't need to for this material.
If it weren't for Bun E. Carlos playing drums, I probably wouldn't have given TW a try, but now I'm glad I did (despite the earworms). :)