fun.-Aim and Ignite

Well, I've been kind of hung up on the words this week, but bear with me here. The other day I got a peculiar word stuck in my head, and I wish I could tell you how it got there. Thump. No, not the slang for sexual intercourse made popular by frat bros, jocks, and guido's. Thump; like a rabbit. The more I would say it the more I felt the word. Thump sounds exactly like what it means. Its a striking word; very clean and aggressive. Another great is husky. Say it. HUSKY. It's a rough word. When I think of the word husky two things come to my mind; lumberjacks, and the Russian women's softball team. It's big and hairy and in your face. Greasy works too. Saying greasy or even thinking about it has this real slimy feeling, like motor oil trickling out of your mouth. Sounds fun right?

fun.(recognize the under-case and .) sounds like what they mean. fun.(the band) is a fun(the adjective) band. It's music that's hard to listen to on those days where your girlfriend dumps you because your dog died and you're crying like a baby (because it happens quiet a bit), but perfect for those days when you just won the super bowl and you're on your way to a date with Blake Lively(because that's even more likely). It is the best day of your life music. fun., basically started out as the unplugged version of itself. Nate Ruess started The Format with Sam Means, and the band became a local hit and produced two very good acoustic guitar driven pop albums. However, the douche bag that is the music industry via Atlantic Records, dropped the duo, and the group sort of fizzled out. TO BE CONTINUED......

NOW. Nate, being the musical entrepreneur he is. decided to move to New York and began fun. with Jack Antonoff and Andrew Dost. After the band snagged producer Steve McDonald and had songs arranged by the legendary Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Aim and Ignite was recorded and here we are today.

I think the thing that intrigues me the most about this band is that they sound like what I would produce. Now, it's not my favorite group, not by a long shot. The band has their faults; they have a very slender range of variety, and at times they start to sound like Panic At The Disco, which is dangerous at best. However, if I had the talent and ability at my disposal to record and album, I think the results would be very similar. There are three things that really draws me to this music.1. The band has stated that the album was influenced by the vast amount of Broadway musicals the band had seen prior to recording. I don't think that musicals are "gay" or "stupid"; I really enjoy them. Rich experimental orchestration and great harmonies are actually very impressive. Anyways, the songs have a very theatrical feel, always lightly bouncing along despite the multitude of instruments being played, and fun. uses three part harmony as well as anyone since Queen. 2. I go ape over a well placed string instrument, and this albums is chock-full of that crap. I don't think there is a single song that doesn't have at least a violin. Seriously, it's almost as amazing as 3. ROGER JOSEPH MANNING JR.!!!!! This guy is THE man. Yea, that one. In case you don't know who this saint is (and lets be honest, you don't) he is one of the prominent members of Jellyfish, one of my top three bands of all time. The man is a pop genius with a constantly swirling mind of jovial piano riffs, peppy vocals, snappy rhythms, AND I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT! I can shamelessly plug Jellyfish all day but i'll stop here.

Every track is so happy-go-lucky that Edgar Allan Poe would have snapped his fingers and shamelessly sung like Miley Cyrus to it. Despite my PATD reference earlier, they really do have interesting songs. If anything the band extracts the good qualities the emo-rockers have and leave the stupid make-up and disco ball behind. "Walking The Dog" features a quirkiest little rim click that really kicks off the song, shortly picked up by a rain of Passion Pit-y electro-rock showers. The song features everything from ska-guitars to harpsichord. Where else will you hear that? Another track, "All The Pretty Girls" opens with a homage de force to Queen with a huge three part harmony tag. The song really acts as a microcosm to the whole band, projecting a desperately optimistic love message, backed with cheers of joy from the trumpets and cellos. To close, don't listen to this in a bad mood expecting a pity party. fun. Is going to pick you up and throw you on your feet, whether you like it or not. So absorb the music and have a great day.