fun. - Aim and Ignite
RATING: 88/100
When The Format went on hiatus in early 2008, lead singer Nate Reuss wasted no time in starting a new group. This time, he wrangled members of fellow bands Anathallo and Steel Train to form the band “fun.”, whose debut album just came out in August 2009.
It’s an ambitious release, to say the least, featuring very symphonic and intricate arrangements from former Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Manning. Don’t worry, though - this isn’t a case of our-songs-are-boring-so-let’s-add-strings, this is a case of taking good songs and making them way cooler by way of arrangement. At the basis of each string-and-horn laden track is a catchy and well written song, with Nate’s melodic and heartfelt vocal parts in particular lending some serious life to the entire album.
Likewise, the production is great, with producer Steve McDonald lending the LP a very warm and full sound. There is a slight lack of clarity during very busy parts of the songs, but that only shows up a few times and isn’t very noticeable. What is noticeable is this: The album is full of catchy and creative music, and was clearly the result of a whole lot of hard work and toil from everybody involved. Any indie pop fans are not going to want to miss this one, and I expect to see it popping up on best-album-of-the-year lists real soon.