Awards time Fountains of Wayne and handicapping the Grammys BY SEAN RICHARDSON

Nostalgia for the cheap thrills of 1980s rock is nothing new on the pop charts. But few acts hit the nail on the head as hard as Fountains of Wayne do on "Stacy’s Mom," the breakthrough single from their third and latest album, Welcome Interstate Managers (Virgin). A hilarious tale of teenage lust packed with vivid harmonies, loud guitars, and silly keyboards, it seems destined for the power-pop hall of fame. As soon as the song became a hit, the New York City band started telling interviewers about their love of the Cars and Rick Springfield, and the tune’s already infamous video is a Fast Times at Ridgemont High homage starring supermodel Rachel Hunter. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, which air this Sunday on CBS, they’re up for two trophies: Best New Artist and Best Pop Group.

Long-time Fountains fans can be excused for snickering at the Best New Artist nod, since the band have been college-rock and adult-alternative faves for the better part of the past decade. Their first two albums, Fountains of Wayne and Utopia Parkway, came out in the late 1990s on Atlantic, earning them much critical acclaim but little commercial success. After parting ways with their label, they followed in the footsteps of fellow power-pop luminaries Jimmy Eat World by writing and recording Interstate on their own dime. It’s safe to say that when the group emerged from the studio with their new disc, the last thing on their mind was going Top 40 like the Cars or Rick Springfield.

Over the phone from NYC, Fountains bassist Adam Schlesinger sounds appreciative of the Grammy nominations but skeptical about their chances of winning. "I wouldn’t bet on me," he laughs. For the band, one of the most rewarding spoils of having a hit single was their recent stint opening US arenas for fellow Best Pop Group contenders Matchbox Twenty. "That was really fun," Schlesinger says. "We don’t get to play in places that size too often, and their audience is very non-threatening. They’re very open-minded — it’s not like if we were trying to open for Metallica or something. We had a lot of kids coming up afterward saying they really liked it, and they bought records."

For my money, one of the most exciting mini-trends in pop these days is the way established alterna-rock cult faves like Fountains and Liz Phair are getting belated props from the mainstream. According to Schlesinger, becoming a part of mass culture after so many years on the fringes can be awkward at times. "Yeah, it’s bizarre seeing us played after Beyoncé or Jay-Z, but we always thought of ourselves as a pop band. It’s just that our definition of pop wasn’t necessarily the rest of the world’s. We were never a super-indie cool band. I don’t know if we fit in in any particular scene. We just kind of do our own thing."

Like its two predecessors, Interstate is alternately funny and poignant, bursting with regional flair and enough white-collar pride to rival Office Space. Schlesinger and frontman Chris Collingwood, who share writing duties, stray from the power-pop path for memorable forays into honky-tonk ("Hung Up on You") and Deadhead noodling ("Peace and Love"). "The general rule for this album was, ‘Just write whatever the hell you feel like, and don’t worry about the coherence of the record as a whole,’ " Schlesinger explains. "We ended up with a huge batch of songs that were all over the map, and then we tried to pick what fit together the best. We’ve both listened to so much music from so many different eras, and it all creeps into what we do."

Outside Fountains, Schlesinger does production work and runs the NYC recording studio Stratosphere Sound. Interstate was tracked both there and at Q Division in Somerville with producer Mike Denneen (Aimee Mann, Letters to Cleo). "I like to consider my studio and Mike’s studio sister studios. We have the same equipment and we focus on the same types of records. As far as having him co-produce the record, he’s the person who knows the band best. He’s an opinion that we trust. We all know the same records and have similar tastes, so it’s a very easy collaboration."

By the time you read this, a new Fountains video for the album-opening "Mexican Wine" should be making its way into circulation. "It’s going to be really good," Schlesinger enthuses. "We got Drew Carey to be in it. We got a yacht and some helicopter shots and a lot of half-naked girls. You know, all the key elements." Despite all the hubbub, the band are still waiting for their album sales to take off. "It’s frustrating to a degree, because I think if we had such a big single five years ago, we would have sold four million records by now. But I look at it more like the record gave us a new lease on life, so the exact number it sells is less relevant than the fact that it allowed us to keep going."

ALONG WITH THE VILLAGE VOICE’S annual Pazz & Jop critics’ poll, which comes out this Wednesday, February 11, the Grammys are the last word on pop music in 2003. Expect to hear three names over and over again when the winners are announced: the White Stripes, OutKast, and 50 Cent (whose Get Rich or Die Tryin’, on Interscope, was the year’s best-selling disc). Since pop fans are notoriously bad at reaching a consensus, it makes sense that my favorite album (Rancid’s Indestructible, on Hellcat) and single (Fountains of Wayne’s "Stacy’s Mom") are both minor players in the year-end critics’ sweepstakes. Here’s a look at the contenders in nine major Grammy categories, including who I’m rooting for and who has the best shot at winning.

The Grammys are separated into a whopping 30 fields, but the awards in the "general" field are the most prestigious ones. My choice for Album of the Year is the White Stripes’ mammoth Elephant (V2), an instant classic that brought the entire fragmented rock community together and even snagged new listeners from outside the genre. Blender and Spin magazines have it at the top of their respective lists, and the race should come down to that disc and OutKast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista). I’m going with Eminem’s fierce "Lose Yourself" for Record of the Year, though fellow #1 hits "Hey Ya!" (OutKast) and "Crazy in Love" (Beyoncé) provide fierce competition. Fountains of Wayne are my pick for Best New Artist, and they’re going to need all the moral support they can get against 50 Cent and Evanescence.

The Best Pop Album race covers everything from the new (Justin Timberlake) to the old (Michael McDonald) to the deceased (George Harrison). I’m picking Timberlake over his recent tourmate, Christina Aguilera, even though I still like Backstreet Boys better than ’N Sync. Since Linkin Park and Metallica are conspicuously absent from the Best Rock Album category, I’m going with dark horse Audioslave, whose Audioslave (Epic/Interscope) is a pummeling epic that has fared better with fans than with critics. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that award went to Matchbox Twenty, who have never won a Grammy, for their fine More Than You Think You Are (Atlantic). And Evanescence, who are still riding high despite losing two of the three players behind the epochal "Bring Me to Life," are also favorites for Fallen.

The Best Alternative Album prize is the White Stripes’ to lose, but expect them to face stiff competition from two-time champs Radiohead. Best Contemporary R&B Album has Beyoncé’s name written all over it: call me a prude, but voting for R. Kelly is just plain wrong, and last year’s winner, Ashanti, has been coming in second to Beyoncé all year. Best Rap Album is a race between OutKast and 50 Cent, and if 50 wins nothing else, he at least deserves the Best Rap Male award for the year’s #1 single, "In da Club."

Like Best Pop Album, the Best Country Album category is polarized along generational lines. Past winners Shania Twain and Faith Hill square off against Country Music Hall of Famers Willie Nelson, Ray Price, and the Louvin Brothers. I’m going with Shania for her ecstatic Up! (Mercury), though it’s hard to believe the Recording Academy is snubbing Johnny Cash for his Country Music Association Award–winning American IV: The Man Comes Around (Lost Highway). Look for Cash’s "Hurt" to win Best Music Video after coming up short at the MTV Video Music Awards.

A year after Norah Jones swept the Grammys with an album that sounded as if it could have been made 50 years ago, much has been said about the edginess of this year’s nominations. An Album of the Year win for the White Stripes would be huge for the alterna-rock community, though Green Day would still be the only Grammy-winning punk band in history. With a Record of the Year win, Eminem can avenge his notorious loss to Steely Dan three years ago — and even if he loses, OutKast can do it for him. And if Fountains of Wayne pull a Shelby Lynne and win Best New Artist years after they first hit the Billboard charts, then anything really is possible in the music industry.

The 2003 Grammy Awards air this Sunday, February 8, at 8 p.m. on CBS (WBZ Channel 4 in Boston).