Okay, here's a general music question:

Obviously this list has given me--and many others--tons and tons of great 
music recommendations. It's given me so many that I've either forgotten or missed 
a bunch that I probably would've loved.

Every springtime, I invariably get in the mood for more good power-pop, and 
this springtime is no different. So I'm going to ask a sort-of-specific 
question that will seem silly initially: What bands do you guys like that sound like 
Fountains of Wayne?

That's a ridiculous question, obviously, so it makes me feel a little like a 
junkie looking for his fix. Let me explain--I think I've disliked more "sounds 
like" recommendations than any other type, because I think those bands are 
too often playing imitator and lack any personality of their own. It also 
reinforces the notion that power-pop fans are just looking for the same thing over 
and over.

BUT I love FOW, I fail to get sick of their records, and I think they 
symbolize the type of power-pop I like best--up-tempo and well-written with clever 
lyrics and a clean mix that really "pops" when you put it on, plus their songs 
seem to possess a magic that makes them seem effortlessly propulsive, as if 
they're completely natural in their construction. They never seem to be forcing 
that big anthemic chorus. I also think that a tasteful use of synthesizers is 
about as addictive as heroin.

I'm not looking for that, obviously. But in looking for "sounds like" FOW 
bands before, I've found: Candy Butchers, Bleu, Ice Cream Hands, ANY of the 
various John Faye projects, The Davenports, The Rosenbergs, Paste, the dB's, 
Owsley/Semantics, Splitsville, and probably some more that I can't think of right 
now. I wound up liking these bands almost as much, even though many of them 
sound somewhat drastically different from FOW. I can't explain why a "sounds like" 
recommendation was even attached to some of them (Candy Butchers? Ice Cream 
Hands? dB's?) but it did the trick anyway. In short, asking the "does it sound 
like Fountains of Wayne?" question has quite often given me a bunch of bands 
that sound nothing like Fountains of Wayne but who I wind up loving in their 
own right. Funny that.

So if anyone thinks they might know something to offer in this realm, offer 
it up! I'm eager for some new stuff. --Jason