fun. - Some Nights - 2012
I wasn't very kind to "Some Nights" when it first came out. I think I was looking for Aim & Ignite II. Cardinal sin of music appreciation. I gave them a very mediocre review on PopDose and I was validated by the 3 stars in Rolling Stone.
But, the thing is, we wanted to love Some Nights. We had heard the big single months before the album's release and we adored it. Couldn't stop playing it.
And when the album came out, at first we just loved it. It was different. More percussive. More challenging.
And, for some reason I thought that was bad by the middle of the record.
But, this record has been on our heavy rotation all year and I think that's saying something. And it's time to go back and give it another listen.
Some Nights starts out strong. The requisite intro-song that we've come to expect from Nate is here and it's even better than I could have hoped for. Takes chances, plays with audio space, it's almost cinematic. And then the call to arms. The opening number, if you will. The title track. Which is all 80s Stomp and Antmusic beats and when Nate breaks into the spoken bridge we're in familiar territory as he's reflecting on whether this has been all worth it. (Really, Nate, at some points ya gotta accept the life of a rock star) then it breaks down AGAIN to reveal that his sister has had a terrible breakup but his nephew is cool and....wait....what the fuck? Auto-tune? Why is there auto-tune???
On further investigation I read that the band had fallen in love with Kanye West's brillian My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and employed Jeff Bhasker from that album to produce their record and, in doing so, succeeded in doing what I've been praising them for on almost every record: Pulling the familiar tropes in their music into the future. Contemporizing it.
The simplicity of THE SINGLE felt at first like it was the mashing up of two incomplete tracks but, upon the 40th or so listen, it really isn't. It's the first real Indie Anthem. And it's kind of perfect. Because when I, in my 40s, went to see them, boy, did I feel young shouting that song at the top of my lungs.
With Dost on the keyboards Nate perfects his balladeering (and "come on, it's going to be okay" feel goodism ala Michael Stipe) in a comradery sea shanty in "Carry On", and while it may be not up to, say "Take Your Time" or "The Gambler" and it's a little too obsessed with it's self sampling, it's beefy enough to pull it off.
Then all goes....weird. The hip-hop obsession gets married to a New Wave riff and the result is some truly off putting piece of music. Sadly, "It Gets Better" isn't about being gay. And, that's almost hard to believe since the band jumps through many hoops to prove that skin tight, women jeans wearing, neo-feminine, sockless, Nate isn't GAY. Get it? He's not. He drinks. A LOT. Every freaking magazine article either addresses the fact that he has a girlfriend or that he gets blind drunk every chance he can.
And, the song isn't about that, anyway. "I know it hurts at first but it gets better". It's about losing your virginity. And it's sort of horrible.
Fortunately, that's a momentary piece of madness and, with the simple and terrific, mid-tempo singalong, "Why Am I the One", we are back on track. Sure, it's Elton John 101, but it works. Heck, if you're gonna wear your Queen and ELO love on your sleeve, you really can't complete the trifecta with out Mr. John, right?
The schoolyard melodies in "All Alone" almost drive it off the cliff. Almost. The song bashes up a goodtime campfire song with all sorts of studio tricks, disguising it's experimentation behind a catchy chorus. But, it isn't great.
And it isn't until "All Alright" that I feel like the band really gets back on its footing. The hugeness of the chorus is what Nate does best: take what sounds like joy and lay it on top of what could be about death or just loss and regret. It's the self-flagellation song. You just wanna sing it with him and then...hug him. Nate Ruess really seems to need a hug.
The real marriage of hip-hop and pop is "One Foot". Riffing on the same Timbaland-type sounds that pervaded Hip-Hop the last few years (reference "Four Minutes" by Madonna for an understanding), it's impossible not to want to raise your hands in time. And when it breaks into a simple melody, we're back on terra firma. It's the reappearance of Nate's dad and his near death experience! That one event seems to have altered that boy's life, completely. And provided fodder for three songs so far.
The album ends with a big coda: "Stars" is one half of a great song. I say "half" because it's a great song...for the first two minutes. And then it sort of implodes upon itself. The title of the album reappears and Nate sings that he sometimes rules the world with "barlights" and "Pretty girls" but he misses his mom so much (never in my life have I heard a singer sing about his mommy as much as Nate Ruess).
However, determined to create the Indie Pop version of Kanye West's "Runaway", the song collapses into a sea of auto tune and, for the first time in The Format or fun.'s history, relegates them to "a time". It might as well be the 80s and they may as well be using drum machines. And lots of echo. Thing is, the damned melody is great and the song itself could have been such a good closer. In the end, it proves the album's undoing. It's slavish and desperate. It's a trick and purposeless. And it hurts my head.
Oh, well. I like most of it.
Grade: B+
ASide: Some Nights, We Are Young, One Foot
BlindSide: Some Nights (Intro), Why Am I The One?, All Alright
DownSide: It Gets Better
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