Saving for a Custom Van
The Adam Schlesinger charity tribute album, Saving for a Custom Van, is a generous 31 tracks, at least two-thirds of which are wonderful. The selections naturally favor his Fountains of Wayne material, but the eclectic roster of artists involved (most of whom are unfamiliar to me) also lay their love and respect all over a couple of Ivy tunes, his period delicacy for That Thing You Do, a shockingly straight-faced declaration of love ballad written for Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore to sing in the film Music and Lyrics, and some of what he wrote for the musical-sitcom My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Kudos to that show’s star, Rachel Bloom, for her theatrical take on “Stacy’s Mom” and Kay Hanley (Letters to Cleo) for a groovy skinny-tie rendition of “Radiation Vibe.”