The question gets asked all the time: Why is today's popular music so bland and uninteresting? It's gotten to the point where older generations are rubbing their noses in our collective manufactured pop face. They say things like, "In my day we had bands like the Beatles and Beach Boys."

If you're a victim of such generational hazing, next time try this: Tell your kids or grandkids to stop listening to the uninspired pop of Avril Lavigne and Michelle Branch and make them listen to Fountains of Wayne.

Here is a band that embodies everything good about wholesome hook-laden harmonized power pop. Fountains of Wayne, a New York City-based band with a name referencing an obscure gift shop in New Jersey, may just be the saviors this generation of TRL watchers need.

On its third album Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne continue with everything it does best. The band can be loud with crunchy distorted guitars and catchy Weezer-esque hooks as on the opener "Mexican Wine," and can also slow down to create a jangly guitar ballad as on "Hackensack," which is easily worthy of praise from the Kinks' Ray Davies.

Although the lyrics aren't particularly deep, they are still worthy of your attention. Character studies abound, including "Stacy's Mom," a love song about a girlfriend's mother with the lyrics, "Stacy's mom has got it going on." This proves that clever and humorous lyrics beat the false teen angst of this generation any day.

Of course, no one will argue that Fountains of Wayne are doing something particularly groundbreaking, but that's not always necessary to be a good band. The band embraces all of its musical references, from nearly every significant band of the British invasion to Big Star, Matthew Sweet and Pavement. In short, Fountains of Wayne are a band that can both enlighten the children of this country and entertain anyone with good taste in music.

-- Reviewed by Bryan Farrell