The result, happily, is a superb follow-up to the band's catchy debut two years ago. To turn your back on a band like this is to betray modern pop as a genre.

On Utopia Parkway, Fountains of Wayne take target practice at a suburb near you, all from the perspective of a perpetual teenager. "I've been saving for a custom van, and I've been playing in a cover band," the band's singer and co-songwriter Chris Collingwood explains to open the album. "My baby doesn't understand why I never turned from a boy to man."

The characters locked inside this utopia are gently mocked. They "listen to Puff Daddy" and "work at Liberty Travel" while living in "The Valley of Malls" and getting high at the "laser show." An alcoholic parent tries to forget her daughter who ran off to join a cult, "clearing her head with bourbon, 'cause beer is so suburban" ("A Fine Day For A Parade"). The kids going to the senior prom understand they that, after the party, "we'll grow old and lose our hair/It's all down hill from there."

The sadly grim picture is cut by the bouncy tunes. Every song moves along smartly, like a well-done commercial jingle ­ not a bad thing, I say. Collingwood and partner Adam Schlesinger are joined this time by real-live band mates (Jody Porter and Brian Young), so the songs have a fleshed-out feel that does justice to the catchy choruses. While built guitar-bass- drums, the songs are spruced up by well-placed keyboards, string arrangements or handclaps.

No great statements, lyrically or musically, here. But Fountains of Wayne have served up the perfect summer soundtrack for every kid trapped in a subdivision's cul de sac.