Sky Full of Holes
Fountains of Wayne · 2011
45 min · 13 tracks · alternative rock
Melodic storytelling intertwines with reflective lyrics and catchy hooks, encapsulating both nostalgia and contemporary life nuances.
Top tracks — play these first
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Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart — This track exemplifies the band's knack for combining earnest storytelling with upbeat melodies, highlighting the bittersweet nature of relationships.
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Cold Comfort Flowers — With its poignant lyrics and melancholic undertones, this song captures the essence of longing and reflection, showcasing the band's mature songwriting.
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Hate to See You Like This — This track stands out for its emotional rawness and relatable narrative about watching someone struggle, blending heartache with a catchy chorus.
Elevation
Our rating, out of 100 — and why.
AI-generated from five scored dimensions. An opinion, not a measurement.
The album showcases strong songwriting and production but remains within familiar genre boundaries.
What we noticed
- The album features a consistent use of melodic hooks that recur throughout multiple tracks, creating a cohesive sound.
- Several songs employ a narrative structure, with lyrics that tell stories across verses rather than relying on repetitive choruses.
- The pacing varies, with the first half maintaining an upbeat tempo before transitioning to more reflective and slower tracks in the latter half.
- Composition 25% of the score
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7/10
- Craft 20% of the score
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8/10
- Durability 25% of the score
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6/10
- Distinctiveness 18% of the score
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6/10
- Sequencing 12% of the score
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7/10
the writing — melody, harmony, structure, lyrics
production, performance, arrangement
whether it rewards returning to it
whether it sounds like itself
running order, pacing, length
Known within its scene. Reported but not counted — how far a record travelled describes its reception rather than the record, and a newer release has had less time to travel than an older one.
Is this for you?
Good fit if you like
- steady, consistent energy levels
- nostalgic storytelling moments
- mid-tempo reflective listening
- melodic background ambiance
Where this album fits
- Career context
- Released in 2011, Sky Full of Holes was Fountains of Wayne's fifth studio album and came after a five-year hiatus following their previous effort, Traffic and Weather. At this point in their career, the band was navigating the changing landscape of alternative rock while maintaining their signature blend of wit and melody.
- Stylistic neighbors
- Ben Folds Five· They Might Be Giants· The New Pornographers
Tracklist
Best experienced from track one — press play and let it unfold.
- 1 The Summer Place 3:30
- 2 Richie and Ruben 3:32
- 3 Acela 3:12
- 4 Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart 3:54
- 5 Action Hero 4:00
- 6 A Dip in the Ocean 3:35
- 7 Cold Comfort Flowers 4:25
- 8 A Road Song 3:04
- 9 Workingman’s Hands 2:38
- 10 Hate to See You Like This 4:13
- 11 Radio Bar 2:56
- 12 Firelight Waltz 3:13
- 13 Cemetery Guns 2:53
Reference: Wikipedia · MusicBrainz · Wikidata
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