Music Review: fun. - Aim and Ignite

After the break-up of fan favorites The Format last year, vocal extraordinaire Nate Reuss formed a new band called fun. with Andrew Dost (formerly of Anathallo) and Jack Antonoff (Steel Train). Their debut album, Aim and Ignite is an instant classic. To give it the cliche "emotional roller coaster" would be to undersell the album because it will rock you to the core from start to finish and may even you a little drained after it's over. Aim and Ingite is what a great pop album should be - infectious melodies, great melodies, and several tracks that will force you to get up and dance or at least make you nod your head.

Reuss picks up where he left off with The Format and takes it another country mile. With his extra-dramatic vocals pumping up every song, he might be the closest thing we have right now to the late Freddie Mercury. I have to put him in the same class with Robert Schneider of The Apples In Stereo with his innate ability to come up with the perfect melody to a pop song so that the listener feels like they have already been whistling the tune for years.

The opening track, "Be Calm", might be the most contradictory title to a song ever because the song is actually a heart-pumping track that is constantly building and never really stops to take a breather. It perfectly captures the accelerated thoughts and fears that a person goes through when they're panicked. "Be Calm" transitions right into a mock-gospel ensemble in "Benson Hedges", then continues into the spectacularly generic "All the Pretty Girls" which perhaps channels Journey at their absolute (non-"Don't Stop Believing") peak. The absolute standout among the standouts is the fourth track, "At Least I'm Not Sad (As I Used to Be)". It beautifully rips off the "na-na-na-boo-boo" tease and forms it into a foot stomping pop-symphony that I can easily picture being sung in a speakeasy. This song will be stuck in your head for days. Other highlights include the endearing "Light Another Candle With Me" and "Take Your Time (Comig Home)", but really folks every song on this album is a highlight.

I'm going to see fun. on September 13th and I am super pumped. Look for more great things from this band, or really any band that Nate Reuss is in, in the future.

Score: 4.3/5