Top10 Albums of 2009: #1

1.) Aim and Ignite- fun.
Best Song: Walking The Dog vs. The Gambler vs. Take Your Time (Coming Home)
(hope to find some better quality versions to post here then these YouTube ones eventually)

When this album was announced two conflicting feelings coursed through me. One was of excitement. Nate Ruess of The Format, Jack Antonoff of Steel Train, and Andrew Dost from Anathallo are all amazingly talented and I could see how the could mix. On the other hand I was worried. There was always something kind of intentionally sloppy about the music of The Format and I was unsure how much of this was due to Nate. I was unsure how this would mesh with the perfectly calculated arrangements of Dost. It was only Antonoff I wasn’t worried about since over the course of Steel Train’s two Albums he has proven himself an accomplished guitarist who can switch from loud distortion to heart warming acoustic folk to delightful pop riffs without batting an eye, the only thing that worried me is he would have to play like this was The Format Part II.

Of course as it turned out I didn’t need to worry about anything. With the question being what parts or The Format, Anathallo, and Steel Train will be brought to the table? The answer is: All the right ones! They took Nate’s very distinctive voice and used the Formats sloppiness to tone down the too mechanical arrangements of Dost to make them truly beautiful. From the opening of “Be Calm” we are introduced to something I didn’t expect. fun. isn’t just a project or a one off supergroup; this is a BAND.

Since there is not a single song I don’t like I am going to take this track by track and talk about each one.

“Be Calm” is an almost Queen like track, with very anthem like orchestration with sparse but effective guitar work underneath and an effective use of channels. There is a certain art to recording in mono knowing what ear is going to hear what sound, an art that has not always been acknowledged and has become mostly unused since most artists just record in complete stereo, but if you want to know how to do it this track is a perfect example.

“Benson Hedges” was the first song I ever heard by fun. back when it was just a demo, and at first I was under whelmed. The album version however is a different story. It manages to pay homage to gospel and soul music without actually being a gospel or soul song. Instead it is a pure pop song that sounds like is an old Beach Boys demo they pulled out of Brian Wilson’s basement.

“All the Pretty Girls” makes the Queen comparison all the more apparent. Except it is better then almost any song that Queen has done. The guitar work it fuller, and there is a just enough pomp to have fun (I congratulate myself for not using this word for anything but the band name before this point) but not enough to make you think they are too full of themselves.

“I Wanna Be the One” is one of my favorite songs lyrically. It has music that sounds like a cross between a circus and ska played about ten times slower then usual. I know that sounds crazy but listen closely past the strings to the horns, bass, and guitar.

“At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)” continues Nate’s line of songwriting that started with “Dog Problems” and “Does Your Cat Have A Moustache?” Namely multipart pop songs with impassioned bridges/outros.

“Light a Roman Candle” is quiet simply a beautiful innocent song that shows the boys in a Brian Wilson-esque mood again and it works even better then it did on “Benson Hedges”

“Walking the Dog” is simply the best pop song on the record. Between the Reggae influenced guitar work and the use of electronic noise and voice modification that bridges them into an acoustic bridge there is hardly a pointless note in the entire song.

By the time you get to “Barlights” you know what to expect. great horns, great guitar, great singing, and great use of noise. And you will find them here.

For a change of pace from the rest of the album you have “The Gambler”. This is not a rock song. It is full of piano and strings and fanfares. It is so uplifting and heartfelt. The point where Nate sings “You swore you’d be here till we decided it’s our time/It’s not time you never quit in all your life” always gets me.

Now as far as closers to albums there are closers and then there are closers and “Take Your Time (Coming Home)” is a closer. Of all the songs on the album this is the most Rock ‘n Roll. It is a driven song that lasts 7:53 but never gets boring. Nate only gets more energized and frenzied as the song continues, and the guitar break in the middle and ending solo are some of my favorite Jack has ever done.

So when we get down to it this album is derivative and adds nothing new to the music scene and pushed no boundaries. So what? Neither did Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors but does that stop it from being one of the greatest pop records I have ever heard? Of course not, and it doesn’t stop Aim and Ignite from being the best record of the year. Sometimes you need a revelation, sometimes you need a revolution, but sometime…sometimes you just need some fun.