Fun.: Aim & Ignite (2LP, blue jay vinyl) [FUN MUSIC]

Why you'll love it

This blue jay 2LP set expands the album with five bonus tracks, including an acoustic "Take Your Time (Coming Home)" and two RAC mixes. AbsolutePunk called it "the most essential pop album of 2009," and it made Sputnikmusic's top 50 of the year.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Blue jay vinyl
• 5 bonus tracks

About the album

Before "We Are Young" made them impossible to avoid, fun. was three friends from three other bands having a go at something bigger. Nate Ruess had just come out of The Format, Jack Antonoff from Steel Train and Andrew Dost from Anathallo, and in 2008 they headed into Appletree Studios with producer Steven McDonald. Ruess brought along some of The Format's favourite tricks, and the three of them set out to make a big, generous pop record.

The sound is pure theatre: bright horns, stacked harmonies and piano lines that AllMusic compared to Queen and Electric Light Orchestra. "Be Calm" opens like an overture, "All the Pretty Girls" is a full-throated singalong, "Light a Roman Candle with Me" handed the album its title, and "The Gambler" slows everything right down. Dost covers everything from flugelhorn to theremin, while Antonoff plays guitar and drums.

Nettwerk first issued it in August 2009, and the band spent the following months on support slots with Manchester Orchestra and Paramore. Antonoff, of course, went on to become one of pop's busiest producers, so consider this his early homework, handed in on time and with extra credit.

Also at Kops: more fun. on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Fun Music, a reissue of the 2009 album.