Matt and Andrew's CD a Day project

I got this last summer on the same day as the new Guster album, and at the time, I favored the Guster album. I didn't feel this was as good as Utopia Parkway and only listened to it three or four times before sitting it on a shelf. So eight months later, after "Stacy's Mom" getting played about 50 zillion times, I heard the new single, "Mexican Wine," on the radio and decided to give FOW a try again.
I think I was a little too harsh the first time. The first half of the album is really strong. But I have two problems: one, this is a textbook case in favor of a new industry trend. According to Billboard magazine, record execs are trying to shrink CDs to only 9 or 10 tracks. This CD has SIXTEEN songs, and after "Hey Julie," track 9, it's all downhill. Tracks 10 through 16 contain two '70s-funk songs, a faux-country song, a song that sounds like Three Dog Night and three songs that suck. When you trim the fat, it tastes better, FOW. It just does.
My second problem is that I'm not from the Northeast, and I think you have to be to get all of Fountains of Wayne's songs. For instance, on this album, "Hackensack" and "Fire Island." I've never been to either place, so I don't understand what they're talking about. I guess they don't do well in this part of the country, either, because they're going on tour and not coming within 500 miles of Oklahoma. Oh, well.