kdenn1020
01/11/10, 08:45 PM
fun. – Aim and Ignite
Record Label: Self-Released
Release Date: August 25, 2009
"Fun" is defined as the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind, and that is exactly the type of music that fun. brings to the table. Fun. breaks into the music scene with a terrific debut album entitled Aim and Ignite and further strengthen the reputation head man Nate Ruess has in the music industry. Many fans, including myself, were distraught with the unfortunate news when Ruess’s old band, The Format, suddenly went on a hiatus in February of 2008. The Format created their own unique sound that became instantly familiar to fans' ears while the band’s album Dog Problems brought Ruess and the rest of the band success and respect. It seems that Ruess has outdone himself again in Aim and Ignite.
Considering Aim and Ignite is fun.’s debut album, let’s provide some insight to who the musicians behind the music really are. Fun. was started by Nate Ruess immediately after the breakup of The Format and he recruited friends Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff; however, Ruess is the face of the band. Fun. has many influences from Ruess’s old band, The Format. The Format was known as an up-tempo, poppy, innovative band. Ruess and fellow Format member Sam Means used various instruments ranging from a variety of guitars, drums, pianos, keyboards, synthesizers, electronic instruments and sounds, and finally, the voices of Ruess and Means. The two collaborated with different ideas and created very original and entertaining music. Every song started, progressed, and ended differently in its own unique style where if you listened to just a few seconds of a song, you could identify which song it was.
Much of this creativity and sound is transplanted in the music heard on Aim and Ignite. Ruess, through the success of The Format and now fun., has gained a reputation among fanatics as a musician who can do no wrong. Personally, I enjoy every song The Format and fun. have put out, and no song is worthy of a poor grade. Unfortunately, The Format broke up and it is speculated that relations between Means and Ruess deteriorated, which led to the breakup. With various hearsay coming from a number of parties involved, it’s evident that the breakup influenced some of fun.’s work. For example, the song titled “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used to Be)” is a blatant reference to Ruess’s feelings and mental state in the final months of The Format and his time after the breakup.
The first track on the album serves as a very good introduction and evidently is one of the best songs on the album. “Be Calm” is an unusual title for the song because about 90 seconds in, the song speeds up and turns frantic, but controlled, the complete opposite of being calm. In the beginning of the song, Ruess sings “As I walk through the streets of my new city, I’ve reclaimed the use of my imagination, for better or for worse, I’ve yet to know”. Ruess is talking about his post-Format days and his difficulty with life and work afterwards. Ruess moved to New York City to get away from the distractions back home in Phoenix, and he feels he has been refreshed or renewed; however, he questions whether or not it’s a good or bad thing. The music of the song is constructed very well around the lyrics of the song. The first minute and a half is quite slow and classical, emphasizing Ruess’s soothing stroll down the streets of New York while he thinks. However, when Ruess says he gets lost, which may be a metaphor, the song slows down to an almost halt when it gives the impression that Ruess has stopped walking and tries to think. Ruess then over thinks his situation and questions his mental state, which may be another metaphor indicating that he feels like he doesn’t know what his life has become. “Be Calm” seems to be directly influenced by Ruess’s Format experience. As the song progresses, other people exchange words as if other people are speaking to Ruess.
For example, one of these voices whispers, “After all, you lost your band, you left your mom”. Well Ruess did lose his band and when he moved to New York, he did leave his mom. These voices apparently stick in Ruess’s mind because he seems worried and unsure of his life in New York when he says “I’m scared that everyone is out to get me.” The lyrics may also show that Ruess is having a panic attack in the streets of New York. Also, the music in "Be Calm" includes drums, trumpets, a variety of voices in addition to Ruess, a violin, guitar, bells, keyboards, synthesizers. Ruess seems in complete control of how the song is constructed and mixes the instruments beautifully. Ruess’s has a talented enough voice where he can change his tone, pitch and melody in a way that coincides with the tempo of the music.
The album continues its excellent mixture of instrument use and melodies with “Benson Hedges” and one of the album’s singles, “All the Pretty Girls”. In “Benson Hedges” Ruess sings in a more up-tempo fashion and sings very high a number of times throughout the song, especially the first few seconds, and at other times, he slows down with the music. “All the Pretty Girls” implements a violin throughout the whole song in conjunction with backing vocals, keyboards, and clicking or tapping sounds in the background.
By the fourth song, “I Wanna Be the One”, Ruess has put together one beautifully designed song in “Be Calm” and two very solid, entertaining pieces in "Hedges" and "Pretty Girls". “I Wanna Be the One” starts off with a catchy piano solo that I just want to tap my finger to which leads to Ruess humming “ba ba ba, ba ba ba” to the sounds of a trumpet. Much like "Pretty Girls", Ruess uses a single instrument to stay consistent through most of the song. This time, he uses a trumpet and as I mentioned before, Ruess again uses his skilled voice to adapt to the ever-changing music behind him. “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used to Be)” begs the suggestion that Ruess was not happy with The Format. Ruess explains his past life and the state it was in a couple years ago. He sings, “….and they say we would’ve seen you two years ago.”
Listening the lyrics, the listener may think that Ruess is talking about a girl when he follows up the previous line with “had you stuck around or come to a show.” Later in the song, Ruess sounds bitter because he states “So I left. That is it. That’s my life. Nothing is sacred. I don’t keep friends. I keep acquainted.” In the song, Ruess introduces a girl singing along side of him to explain his past sadness. The song is another up-tempo piece but at the 3:14 mark of the song, Ruess turns bitter and maybe even hurt and slows down the music. Yet again, at the 3:35 mark, the music begins to wind up again simultaneously with his voice on the same increasing curve. Ruess shows off his talented voice yet again.
In the sixth song on the album, Ruess sings to a girl, trying to convince her to give him a chance to work with her and build a relationship. He has feelings for the girl, but he is not getting the same response from the girl. Ruess is begging a girl to spend an evening with him to savor the present time with him and see the potential they have together. In one stanza, Ruess sings, “If we were honest and both wrote a sonnet together/a sandwich with everything on it/at least we would know that the sparks didn’t glow/but we owe it to ourselves to try/so we aim and ignite!” Those lyrics mentioned are the best in the song. Ruess wants the girl to work with him and essentially tells her she has nothing to lose, and it is worth it to both of them to at least give it a shot. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work; but at least they would try. Ruess’s main connection with the roman candle reference to the relationship with a girl is that if the roman candle makes a spark, the two have something going and has potential to progress. Later on, Ruess sings “Oh I know, it goes on, it gets old.” Well Ruess is completely aware that not all relationships last, just as roman candles eventually burn out, but Ruess begs the girl to still give it a shot and says to her, “so don’t think of tomorrow night.” Ruess himself doesn’t know whether things will work out or not, but for the sake of the spark lasting, he tells her not to think of tomorrow.
Like a roman candle, relationships eventually come to an end but Ruess is trying to tell the girl to not think of the future; think of the now. Finally, the lyrics “so we owe it to ourselves to aim and ignite” suggest this song is the primary song of the album and represents the overall message or concept of the album. Furthermore, this song may not be about a girl, but about a band. This possibility further identifies The Format influences in Aim and Ignite. The skill in Ruess’s writing shows here. I mean, Ruess may be talking about a girl, as most would perceive, but the real artistic work is that Ruess intentionally misleads you to the obvious, but it takes some thought to dissect what he’s really saying. In my opinion, Ruess in some way is referencing his experiences again with Sam Means and The Format. Also, this song is also another solid piece of musical creativity. Ruess adds another element of uniqueness to this song that distinguishes itself from all the other songs on the album. The band brings a good balance of different instruments and utilizes them quite well to create an entertaining sound.
“Walking the Dog” has turned into a fan favorite and “Barlights” has a beating drum introduction that I can’t help but tap my foot to it for the first half a minute or so. Both songs are entertaining in their own right. “Barlights” happens to be one of my favorite songs on the album, next to “Be Calm”, Roman Candle and “The Gambler”. Gambler is the ninth track on the album and is the second best written song on the record. Ruess takes the perspective of his mother and sings about his family. He talks about the tragic event of almost losing her husband/his father and how her kids grew up. He expresses his mother’s love for her husband and her family through his lyrics. This song seems to be a tribute to his mother, maybe because she was hurt or negatively affected by Ruess’s departure from Phoenix. Finally, Ruess talks about the coming home dinner, where Ruess and his sister come back home to their parents for a simple, family dinner by the fireplace.
Finally, the best track of the album, “Take Your Time (Coming Home)" opens up with background voices humming “na na nana” repeatedly to the beat of drums and the fast picking of a guitar with some keyboarding. This song turns into an epic song, lasting seven minutes and fifty-one seconds (7:51). Overall, “Take Your Time” wraps everything in Ruess’s life in the previous three to four years. He talks about his journey from being grade school friends with Sam Means to his band The Format. Next, he takes you through his journey of finding happiness and love. I think the love he has found is his new band. Ruess is so emphatic over the love of his band because of the internal failures of his previous band. Ruess asks himself, “…then what the fuck have I been doing the last six years?/how did I end up here?/how did I find love and conquer all my fears?” Finally, Ruess explains that, “Now I’m now scared/of a song/or the states/or the stages/I’m not scared. I’ve got friends, took my call, came courageous. Now I feel like I am home.” That stanza sums up his journey and album perfectly. Ruess’s lyrics in “Take Your Time” propel the song to be the perfect closer to an album like this. Musically, the song uses every instrument used throughout the album at one point or another and yet again, balances it all together very well. Also, Ruess continues his excellent melodic voice in parallel with the music.
In conclusion, Aim and Ignite is an excellent piece of work by Nate Ruess and obviously, through analysis of his lyrics, it has taken quite a few years to finally put all this work together. Overall, the record is a very happy record, even though at stages Ruess is unsure of himself, worried, scared, and lonely, yet he is optimistic throughout his journey, emphasized by the happiness in the music. As I said earlier, The Format and its breakup has a major influence on the work Ruess put into fun., and apparently, it shows very strong. Ruess may not write the Format’s influence into his music straightforwardly, but many of the songs are meant to be read in between the lines. The lyrical content in his album isn’t spectacular or on par with the talent exhibited by Max Bemis in his work, but Ruess definitely knows how to write very good lyrics. As for the music, Ruess has outdone himself and propels himself into my mind as my favorite musician. The blend of originality and variety of musical sounds and instruments is fantastic, and this album comes together like a very good piece of respectable art. Most of all, the music is so fun and entertaining, it has good lasting value. I played this album out over and over and I still love it, six months after its release. It's definitely worth a purchase and many, many listens.
Record Label: Self-Released
Release Date: August 25, 2009
"Fun" is defined as the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind, and that is exactly the type of music that fun. brings to the table. Fun. breaks into the music scene with a terrific debut album entitled Aim and Ignite and further strengthen the reputation head man Nate Ruess has in the music industry. Many fans, including myself, were distraught with the unfortunate news when Ruess’s old band, The Format, suddenly went on a hiatus in February of 2008. The Format created their own unique sound that became instantly familiar to fans' ears while the band’s album Dog Problems brought Ruess and the rest of the band success and respect. It seems that Ruess has outdone himself again in Aim and Ignite.
Considering Aim and Ignite is fun.’s debut album, let’s provide some insight to who the musicians behind the music really are. Fun. was started by Nate Ruess immediately after the breakup of The Format and he recruited friends Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff; however, Ruess is the face of the band. Fun. has many influences from Ruess’s old band, The Format. The Format was known as an up-tempo, poppy, innovative band. Ruess and fellow Format member Sam Means used various instruments ranging from a variety of guitars, drums, pianos, keyboards, synthesizers, electronic instruments and sounds, and finally, the voices of Ruess and Means. The two collaborated with different ideas and created very original and entertaining music. Every song started, progressed, and ended differently in its own unique style where if you listened to just a few seconds of a song, you could identify which song it was.
Much of this creativity and sound is transplanted in the music heard on Aim and Ignite. Ruess, through the success of The Format and now fun., has gained a reputation among fanatics as a musician who can do no wrong. Personally, I enjoy every song The Format and fun. have put out, and no song is worthy of a poor grade. Unfortunately, The Format broke up and it is speculated that relations between Means and Ruess deteriorated, which led to the breakup. With various hearsay coming from a number of parties involved, it’s evident that the breakup influenced some of fun.’s work. For example, the song titled “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used to Be)” is a blatant reference to Ruess’s feelings and mental state in the final months of The Format and his time after the breakup.
The first track on the album serves as a very good introduction and evidently is one of the best songs on the album. “Be Calm” is an unusual title for the song because about 90 seconds in, the song speeds up and turns frantic, but controlled, the complete opposite of being calm. In the beginning of the song, Ruess sings “As I walk through the streets of my new city, I’ve reclaimed the use of my imagination, for better or for worse, I’ve yet to know”. Ruess is talking about his post-Format days and his difficulty with life and work afterwards. Ruess moved to New York City to get away from the distractions back home in Phoenix, and he feels he has been refreshed or renewed; however, he questions whether or not it’s a good or bad thing. The music of the song is constructed very well around the lyrics of the song. The first minute and a half is quite slow and classical, emphasizing Ruess’s soothing stroll down the streets of New York while he thinks. However, when Ruess says he gets lost, which may be a metaphor, the song slows down to an almost halt when it gives the impression that Ruess has stopped walking and tries to think. Ruess then over thinks his situation and questions his mental state, which may be another metaphor indicating that he feels like he doesn’t know what his life has become. “Be Calm” seems to be directly influenced by Ruess’s Format experience. As the song progresses, other people exchange words as if other people are speaking to Ruess.
For example, one of these voices whispers, “After all, you lost your band, you left your mom”. Well Ruess did lose his band and when he moved to New York, he did leave his mom. These voices apparently stick in Ruess’s mind because he seems worried and unsure of his life in New York when he says “I’m scared that everyone is out to get me.” The lyrics may also show that Ruess is having a panic attack in the streets of New York. Also, the music in "Be Calm" includes drums, trumpets, a variety of voices in addition to Ruess, a violin, guitar, bells, keyboards, synthesizers. Ruess seems in complete control of how the song is constructed and mixes the instruments beautifully. Ruess’s has a talented enough voice where he can change his tone, pitch and melody in a way that coincides with the tempo of the music.
The album continues its excellent mixture of instrument use and melodies with “Benson Hedges” and one of the album’s singles, “All the Pretty Girls”. In “Benson Hedges” Ruess sings in a more up-tempo fashion and sings very high a number of times throughout the song, especially the first few seconds, and at other times, he slows down with the music. “All the Pretty Girls” implements a violin throughout the whole song in conjunction with backing vocals, keyboards, and clicking or tapping sounds in the background.
By the fourth song, “I Wanna Be the One”, Ruess has put together one beautifully designed song in “Be Calm” and two very solid, entertaining pieces in "Hedges" and "Pretty Girls". “I Wanna Be the One” starts off with a catchy piano solo that I just want to tap my finger to which leads to Ruess humming “ba ba ba, ba ba ba” to the sounds of a trumpet. Much like "Pretty Girls", Ruess uses a single instrument to stay consistent through most of the song. This time, he uses a trumpet and as I mentioned before, Ruess again uses his skilled voice to adapt to the ever-changing music behind him. “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used to Be)” begs the suggestion that Ruess was not happy with The Format. Ruess explains his past life and the state it was in a couple years ago. He sings, “….and they say we would’ve seen you two years ago.”
Listening the lyrics, the listener may think that Ruess is talking about a girl when he follows up the previous line with “had you stuck around or come to a show.” Later in the song, Ruess sounds bitter because he states “So I left. That is it. That’s my life. Nothing is sacred. I don’t keep friends. I keep acquainted.” In the song, Ruess introduces a girl singing along side of him to explain his past sadness. The song is another up-tempo piece but at the 3:14 mark of the song, Ruess turns bitter and maybe even hurt and slows down the music. Yet again, at the 3:35 mark, the music begins to wind up again simultaneously with his voice on the same increasing curve. Ruess shows off his talented voice yet again.
In the sixth song on the album, Ruess sings to a girl, trying to convince her to give him a chance to work with her and build a relationship. He has feelings for the girl, but he is not getting the same response from the girl. Ruess is begging a girl to spend an evening with him to savor the present time with him and see the potential they have together. In one stanza, Ruess sings, “If we were honest and both wrote a sonnet together/a sandwich with everything on it/at least we would know that the sparks didn’t glow/but we owe it to ourselves to try/so we aim and ignite!” Those lyrics mentioned are the best in the song. Ruess wants the girl to work with him and essentially tells her she has nothing to lose, and it is worth it to both of them to at least give it a shot. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work; but at least they would try. Ruess’s main connection with the roman candle reference to the relationship with a girl is that if the roman candle makes a spark, the two have something going and has potential to progress. Later on, Ruess sings “Oh I know, it goes on, it gets old.” Well Ruess is completely aware that not all relationships last, just as roman candles eventually burn out, but Ruess begs the girl to still give it a shot and says to her, “so don’t think of tomorrow night.” Ruess himself doesn’t know whether things will work out or not, but for the sake of the spark lasting, he tells her not to think of tomorrow.
Like a roman candle, relationships eventually come to an end but Ruess is trying to tell the girl to not think of the future; think of the now. Finally, the lyrics “so we owe it to ourselves to aim and ignite” suggest this song is the primary song of the album and represents the overall message or concept of the album. Furthermore, this song may not be about a girl, but about a band. This possibility further identifies The Format influences in Aim and Ignite. The skill in Ruess’s writing shows here. I mean, Ruess may be talking about a girl, as most would perceive, but the real artistic work is that Ruess intentionally misleads you to the obvious, but it takes some thought to dissect what he’s really saying. In my opinion, Ruess in some way is referencing his experiences again with Sam Means and The Format. Also, this song is also another solid piece of musical creativity. Ruess adds another element of uniqueness to this song that distinguishes itself from all the other songs on the album. The band brings a good balance of different instruments and utilizes them quite well to create an entertaining sound.
“Walking the Dog” has turned into a fan favorite and “Barlights” has a beating drum introduction that I can’t help but tap my foot to it for the first half a minute or so. Both songs are entertaining in their own right. “Barlights” happens to be one of my favorite songs on the album, next to “Be Calm”, Roman Candle and “The Gambler”. Gambler is the ninth track on the album and is the second best written song on the record. Ruess takes the perspective of his mother and sings about his family. He talks about the tragic event of almost losing her husband/his father and how her kids grew up. He expresses his mother’s love for her husband and her family through his lyrics. This song seems to be a tribute to his mother, maybe because she was hurt or negatively affected by Ruess’s departure from Phoenix. Finally, Ruess talks about the coming home dinner, where Ruess and his sister come back home to their parents for a simple, family dinner by the fireplace.
Finally, the best track of the album, “Take Your Time (Coming Home)" opens up with background voices humming “na na nana” repeatedly to the beat of drums and the fast picking of a guitar with some keyboarding. This song turns into an epic song, lasting seven minutes and fifty-one seconds (7:51). Overall, “Take Your Time” wraps everything in Ruess’s life in the previous three to four years. He talks about his journey from being grade school friends with Sam Means to his band The Format. Next, he takes you through his journey of finding happiness and love. I think the love he has found is his new band. Ruess is so emphatic over the love of his band because of the internal failures of his previous band. Ruess asks himself, “…then what the fuck have I been doing the last six years?/how did I end up here?/how did I find love and conquer all my fears?” Finally, Ruess explains that, “Now I’m now scared/of a song/or the states/or the stages/I’m not scared. I’ve got friends, took my call, came courageous. Now I feel like I am home.” That stanza sums up his journey and album perfectly. Ruess’s lyrics in “Take Your Time” propel the song to be the perfect closer to an album like this. Musically, the song uses every instrument used throughout the album at one point or another and yet again, balances it all together very well. Also, Ruess continues his excellent melodic voice in parallel with the music.
In conclusion, Aim and Ignite is an excellent piece of work by Nate Ruess and obviously, through analysis of his lyrics, it has taken quite a few years to finally put all this work together. Overall, the record is a very happy record, even though at stages Ruess is unsure of himself, worried, scared, and lonely, yet he is optimistic throughout his journey, emphasized by the happiness in the music. As I said earlier, The Format and its breakup has a major influence on the work Ruess put into fun., and apparently, it shows very strong. Ruess may not write the Format’s influence into his music straightforwardly, but many of the songs are meant to be read in between the lines. The lyrical content in his album isn’t spectacular or on par with the talent exhibited by Max Bemis in his work, but Ruess definitely knows how to write very good lyrics. As for the music, Ruess has outdone himself and propels himself into my mind as my favorite musician. The blend of originality and variety of musical sounds and instruments is fantastic, and this album comes together like a very good piece of respectable art. Most of all, the music is so fun and entertaining, it has good lasting value. I played this album out over and over and I still love it, six months after its release. It's definitely worth a purchase and many, many listens.