Look Park Look Park (Southbound)

★★★1⁄2 With the demise of Fountains of Wayne and no reunions planned, it was probably inevitable that frontman Chris Collingwood would record a solo album. What wasn’t so predictable is how good it would be. Look Park sounds like the classic pop-rock albums of old – a menu of songs that fit together like a well-prepared musical feast. There are a lot of piano-based tracks like Breezy, which owes much of its catchy melodicism to producer Mitchell Froom’s knack of keeping things simple, while

Shout Pt 1 has an African-style chorus that gives a straightforward song an exotic edge. Collingwood, in a surprising departure from the norm, has the fountain bubbling again.