Grade: C+ | Pop rock at its finest – the only way to describe the career of Fountains of Wayne.

With its latest release, “Traffic and Weather,” they may have drifted off course a bit.

The latest release is a lot more pop and a lot less rock. Failing to have any stand-out songs on the album, and losing the rocking choruses backed by powerful guitars, has made the album rank near the bottom of the band’s catalog list. It just doesn’t have any punch to it. Too mellow, too many weird synthesizers going on and less basic guitar, drums and good hooks make the listener feel the whole disc just runs together.

Don’t misunderstand; the album is OK, upbeat and poppy. But after a few tracks, there is nothing really special to be heard. Whatever happened to classic songs like “Stacy’s Mom” or “Sink to the Bottom”?

What happened to a song that would leave listeners thinking about that track all day, humming in the middle of class?

No, there are none of those songs to be found on “Traffic and Weather.” It is rock, but it’s not rockin’, and it’s definitely the band’s poppiest release yet.