No Better Place: Live in Chicago - (Dolby) - [DVD]

The group breezes into the Windy City with their warm, feel-good vibe, unleashing the hooks and humor that have made them champions of power pop. For their first-ever live DVD, fans are treated to a career-defining set with punchy performances of their hits. Having perfected the sounds of summer buzz with tight rhythms, carefree melodies and humor-laced lyrics, the indie pop quartet takes the stage in prime form, knocking out favorite after favorite. Filmed in October, 2005, this concert was shot for broadcast in widescreen format and recorded in 5.1 Surround to provide an electrifying home viewing experience. Special Features: Screen Format Note: Widescreen 16:9 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 English Runtime: 80 Minutes. Pure pop is on tap as Fountains of Wayne take the stage for No Better Place, a 2005 show that is the group’s first DVD release. If there’s one thing these guys have in spades, it’s a knack for writing songs that manage to be both hip and catchy--witness bassist Adam Schlesinger’s Oscar nomination for the title track to the film That Thing You Do!, as well as his contributions to numerous other successful films and television shows. Fountains of Wayne’s best work is arguably their 2003 recording Welcome Interstate Managers (featuring "Stacy’s Mom," simply one of the best pop singles of the decade), and they wisely focus on that album here; besides "Stacy," tunes like "Hackensack," the Simon & Garfunkel-esque "Valley Winter Song," and "Hey Julie" all showcase Schlesinger and lead singer Chris Collingwood’s flair for melody, hooks, and clever lyrical turns of phrase about "a mean little man with a clip-on tie and a rub-on tan" and other characters (while well-observed, the material tends to be somewhat smug and condescending toward its subjects and the prosaic details of their daily lives). Song-wise, then, these boys have it covered. Their performance, however, leaves something to be desired. Collingwood, the front-man, makes little effort to engage with the audience (Schlesinger, guitarist Jody Porter, and drummer Brian Young make none at all), to the point where the concert would probably work just as well in an audio-only format. The bonus material consists of five songs performed acoustically in a recording studio. --Sam Graham