Fun.'s Name Says It All
fun. releases a stellar premier album with Aim and Ignite
Fun.
Aim and Ignite
Released on Aug 25, 2009
A veritable indie super group if there ever was one (disregard Monsters of Folk for the remainder of this review), New York’s latest and greatest indie trio, fun., release their debut album Aim & Ignite. Made up of vocalist Nate Ruess of The Format, pianist Andrew Dost of Anathallo, and guitarist Jack Antonoff of Steel Train, as well as some guest spots by several other very talented performers, fun. is a musical force to be reckoned with.
Formed in New York shortly after The Format’s break-up, frontman, Nate Ruess would eventually form fun. in an effort to complete several of the songs that he had been working on before the break-up. Before he realized it, the inner gears of a band started turning as he invited several old friends he’d met on tour to come over and help his song ideas see the light of day. Not too much later they had not only finished the songs he had set out to finish, but they had begun to write new music as well.
Recording for Aim & Ignite began in September 2008 with the help of producer Steven McDonald and assistance from arranger and keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr. Unlike the path most other bands that record an album, release it, and tour to support it, fun. opted to do the opposite, recording an album then touring for nearly a year before finally releasing it. An even more impressive fact is that during this time that they had no material released they still managed to tour with the likes of Manchester Orchestra and Jack’s Mannequin.
The first single from Aim & Ignite, “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be),” was in select stores and on itunes on May 5th. “At Least I’m Not As Sad,” reminisces about the past by means of a wonderfully playful duet. Ruess’ vocal abilities are simply stunning in this song, from his shimmering falsetto midway through the song, to his almost Queen like passage near the end. It also features excellent lyrical content, “I don’t keep friends, I keep acquainted/ I’m not a prophet, but I’m here to profit.” As well as “That’s my life, nothing is sacred/ I don’t fall in love, I just fake it.”
“Be Calm,” the first track off the album is an absolute gem. From the violin filled introduction to the twinkling rant about half way through the song, it is by far one of the best songs on the album, and just a terrific example of exemplarily song writing. It is followed by “Benson Hedges,” the first song the band ever recorded. While not an amazing song, it is interesting to note that in the demo version of this song the gospel chorus parts are all sung by guitarist Andrew Dost, then layered over one another.
“All The Pretty Girls” is next in line on the listening list. It combines Queen-like vocal harmonies with terrific sing along and clapping movements that make it fun just to listen to. It also features some fantastic guitar work and unmatched mixing that keep everything easy on the ears. Following this is the playful and romantic, “I Wanna Be The One.”
Full of bouncy peppiness and trebly guitar, “Walking The Dog” is another strong point in the album. fun. isn’t simply another cutesy indie folk band, they’re much, much more. Pulling from the rich roots of their combined past, they take all these styles and mesh them with extremely well-made pop music, and this songs exemplifies just that. If all the pop music being produced right now were made at half the caliber as fun.’s material commercial radio might be halfway bearable.
Rounding out the album is the swingingly romantic soiree that is “The Gambler.” Featuring such overly romantic lyrics as, “I swear when I grow up I won’t just buy you a rose/ I will buy you a flower shop and you will never be lonely/ Oh, even if the Sun stopped waking up over the field/ I will not leave, I will not leave ‘til it’s on time/ Just take my hand and know that I will never leave your side.” The final track of the album is a seven-minute romp entitled “Take Your Time (Coming Home).” While not the most spectacular song on the album, it’s nevertheless decent in it’s own regard and not the worst seven minutes I’ve ever spent.
So for fans of The Format, don’t despair, for this beats the hell out of anything The Format ever made (and I love The Format). If you haven’t heard this album yet I insist you take a listen, it sounds a bit like The Format having a kid with Queen, a child that as it turns out, is a musical prodigy and a production genius.
High Point
I love integrating different instruments into all styles of music; that being so, “Be Calm” takes the cake as my favorite song on Aim & Ignite. Trumpets + violins = making any song ten times more epic.
Low Point
“Benson Hedges” just doesn’t show the full potential of this band. It has a lot of the factors that go into making a great song in play, but for some reason everything just doesn’t seem to mesh the right way.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Aug 27, 2009 @ 6:00 am
