All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Splendid

Welcome Interstate Managers is a watershed accomplishment, surpassing the band's debut in terms of whimsical pop songcraft, lyrical astuteness and blind melodic ambition.

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100

Blender

A nearly flawless collection of hummable overtures. [#17, p.138]

100

Spin

The lyrics explore suburban everyguyism, but the choruses explode like fireworks over a church picnic. [Jul 2003, p.109]

ShakingThrough.net

Not only their crowning achievement to date but also one of the year's finest albums, period.

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Entertainment Weekly

Parkway didn't take Fountains of Wayne to the charts, but let's hope the Interstate will. [13 Jun 2003, p.92]

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

Their tunes have always seemed too facile, but seven years divided by three albums doesn't equal glib, especially with those years deepening their lyricism rather than their cynicism.

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Stylus Magazine

The record is sprawling and beautiful, a genuine pop masterpiece through and through.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

Even at their most piercingly observant, Collingwood and Schlesinger never lose their warmth for their subjects, and their lack of condescension comes through in the music, as well.

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Stylus Magazine

Welcome Interstate Managers is stone-cold great.

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Neumu.net

This is exactly the album that should be blasting from car radios all summer.

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PopMatters

Welcome Interstate Managers is the welcome aural equivalent of a great collection of short stories, each song offering a little snippet from a life, and presenting a range of characters to fill this musical spectrum.

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Q Magazine

Such moments of wry genius make a very special record. [Oct 2003, p.104]

Billboard

The group encapsulates the Atlantic seacoast just as 1980s twangers the dBs embodied the South and the Beach Boys captured California.

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Flak Magazine

Carved into the glittering surface of its obsessively polished pop jewels are the biographies of horny schoolkids, laid-off airline pilots, aspiring salesmen reeling from scotch and soda -- in short, credible characters sculpted with music.

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E! Online

You'll love it.

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Mojo

Celebrates the little people with full powerpop majesty. [Jul 2003, p.108]

All Music Guide

This time, the one flaw may simply be that the group doesn't know when to say when.

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CultureDose.net

For people friendly to western pop traditions, there is little or nothing in the music to dislike, and lots to sing along with.

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Delusions of Adequacy

No doubt, the music that falls between the Beatles and Bacharach extremes suffers slightly from adherence to formula, but few can boast such immediately memorable melodies. What surprises, though, is the care that they take with the lighter side of their music.

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Austin Chronicle

The secret to Fountains of Wayne's genius is the ability to infuse personality into a typically personalityless segment of America, making sadness and mundanity both interesting and deceptively fun.

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Pitchfork

Despite its obviously short shelf-life, Welcome Interstate Managers is delicious power-pop, unpretentious, loose and perfect for teenagers driving down to Ocean City for the weekend.

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Rolling Stone

The songs are more laid-back than the band's earlier work, but they're still catchy enough to rattle around your brain for days. [12 Jun 2003, p.94]

Alternative Press

Sadly, much of Welcome Interstate Managers is bogged down by forgettable midtempo slush. [Aug 2003, p.104]

Uncut

They're diminished by trying to touch too many bases, often lapsing into sub-Oasis stodge. [Oct 2003, p.114]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 96 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chad S gave it a9:
After watching "Music and Lyrics", it dawned on me that I somehow skipped "Welcome Interstate Managers". Why? Because I was unemployed in 2003. "Stacy's Mom" brilliantly recalls The Cars' "Just What I Needed" and then finds its own bliss. "Hackensack" is equally catchy and unbelievably sad.

mit gave it a10:
Well thank you for the compliment Richard Roeper but I don't even remember when Shit's Poo Squaro came out. That's how forgettable the record was. Why is I always turn into the asshole when all I wanted was to compliment how good this record was. Of course I'm no Rodney Bingenheimer or even a Nic Hartcort when it comes to music. But I do know anyone who passes up a great album like this and Franz Ferdinand for a mediorce records like Flutes Blue Arrow is out of their cotton picken mind.

Erik H gave it a7:
Tim, it's difficult to believe you really know "more about music" than anyone will ever know when you don't even know the name of the Shins' album ("Chutes Too Narrow"). Also your entire comment came across as an arrogant asshole who lacks the intelligence of a sixth grader. As for this album, while it has quite a few catchy numbers, it is overall not the kind of album you'll listen to again and again and find yourself returning too. It's an enjoyable but forgettable quickie, similar to Franz Ferdinand.

Joey JoJo Shabadoo gave it a10:
Did I say anything about the Shins being bad? They're just not on the same level as this album. At least I don't pull stupid comments out my arse. This album is sensational.

tim gave it a10:
Did I say the Shins were bad you idiot!!!!!!!!!!!! This is just on another level that their overrated Shutes Too Narrow. I know more about music than you'll ever know. Blow it out your ass.

John Kerry gave it a0:
You all suck including you fountain and of and wayne you all suck

Robert v gave it a5:
Stacy's mom is an awesome song the rest sucks

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Welcome Interstate Managers

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