My Top 2000 Songs #1137: Little Red Light

I'm heading back to Fountains of Wayne's 2003 triumph Welcome Interstate Managers, something I could do repeatedly (just look at that picture! and that's only half the double-LP!) but I'm trying to exercise a little willpower here.

"Little Red Light" is one of their harder rocking songs, carried along by its fizzy electric guitar buzz, a less obvious power pop hook than, say, "Stacy's Mom," but still wickedly infectious. As with many of their best songs, it's mostly about the lyrics. The horror of coming home, desperately hoping to see the blinking red light on the answering machine, is sadly of its time (does anyone still have an answering machine?!), but the sentiment--burying the pain of a break-up in a mix of work, drinking, and denial--transcends time. "I go to work, I come back home, but you're still gone and I'm still alone." 

Live 2011:

Cover by Lisa Prank: