-Take Back Thursdays- Fun. “Aim and Ignite”
If you were to create a soundtrack to the early 2010s, a handful of artists are almost guaranteed to make an appearance. One of them is fun. (yeah, the “We Are Young” guys). The band’s claim to fame was their second album, Some Nights, which came out in 2012 and which I half-jokingly described as seminal to some of my friends the other night (I wasn’t joking).
It featured a handful of songs that you probably inadvertently learned all of the lyrics to, and it gave the band two Grammy Awards (and probably allowed them to fall victim to the “Best New Artist curse”, but really, who’s to say). But I don’t want to talk about Some Nights. It’s a fantastic album, and maybe I could revisit it in the future, but it is the successor to something that has shaped me like nothing else ever has and an album that has stood the test of time as a unique documentation of the massive individual and collective talents of Jack Antonoff, Andrew Dost, and Nate Ruess.
fun.’s first album, Aim and Ignite is a baroque indie pop rock masterpiece, plain and simple. But it isn’t plain or simple. From the cohesive feel of the album cover and visuals (featuring artwork by Jacob Weinstein) to the tonality of the songs and themes in the lyricism and bizarre yet magical instrumentation, there is not a single oversight on the 2009 LP. Aim and Ignite opens with “Be Calm”. I don’t think an opening to an album has ever made me feel the way this song feels.
It serves as a grandiose orchestral launch into the indie outfit’s debut and a dramatic fanfare and anthemic lyricism with melodic turned raw (borderline edgy) vocal quality from vocalist and primary songwriter, Nate Ruess, this song is a definitive representation of the album and the band as a whole in this era. Before you can even digest the wild composition and sheer density of what you heard on “Be Calm”, “Benson Hedges” roars up. Certainly, the intensity is still there, but the energy is shifted into a more rock-leaning track. It definitely solidifies fun.’s role as the peppy-sounding band with introspective lyrics that are relatable to who they need to be relatable to. And if you know just one song from this album, you probably know “All The Pretty Girls”. It’s really high energy and just propels the album forward in another new direction. Even though every song on this album feels like it belongs on the album, no song sounds like another song—they cannot be mistaken for each other. The string section on “All The Pretty Girls” stays going strong and maintains essential rock elements (like spunky drums and very electric guitars) in a perfect balance of the past and future of music as a whole.
Love, loss, and, in general, life, are all themes of Aim and Ignite and can be felt in some capacity on every track. “I Wanna Be The One” and “Light A Roman Candle With Me” each fall into the first category almost exclusively. The latter of which includes the lyric “At least we would know / That the sparks didn't glow / But we owe it to ourselves to try / So we aim and ignite”, with the album’s title embedded in it. In between those two tracks is another highlight of the album for me. The lead single, “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)”, was released in May of 2009, about three months before the rest of the album. Honestly, this might be one of my favorite songs from the band across the board. It has all of the elements of a fun. song that should be there: it’s catchy, it’s got some unique instrumentation, it’s genre-bending, it’s incredibly theatrical, it’s poppy while still staying very indie, and it’s just fun. at their very best. There is a palpable energy on this track that makes it seem like the entire band is having a good time making the track. Maybe it’s just the horns though, who knows!
The seventh track on Aim and Ignite is “Walking The Dog”—another one that you might know because it was used in an Expedia commercial in 2010, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. This is another track that has contrasting sonic and lyrical tonalities. It sounds really happy, but it’s lamenting a broken relationship. But then “Barlights” comes along and adds even more diversified theatrics to the mix. Dost’s piano really stands out on this track, another life song, but it shines through tenfold on “The Gambler”. If you think you’ve heard the sweetest love song ever, you might have, but have you heard this? Not to get all astrological again, but it tends to happen when I’m looking back at the music that shaped me—have you ever heard a song written by a PISCES about his parents’ love and relationship? It’s quite possibly the love song in fun.’s discography, and it’s essential if you’re going to listen to this album. It keeps the energy and instrumentation fairly simple—elegant piano, a light but lovely violin, and a very lush French horn. It’s recently soared in popularity with the album’s streaming numbers, and it is without a doubt one of my favorites on this LP, but it offers such a slight glimpse into the massive world that this album creates.
“Take Your Time (Coming Home)” closes out the original release of the album. I honestly couldn’t imagine another song ending the bunch. It takes every element of what fun. accomplished on the album and really amped it up. In its (over) seven-minute span, it wraps Aim and Ignite up with a neat little bow.
The song is more percussive, rock focused, and grittier than any of the other tracks on the album (back in the days when Antonoff was known better as a guitar player than anything else) while still being very polished and refined with a true indie spirit driving it home. Literally, I guess.
If you’re streaming the album (which I really hope you do), you’ll notice that there are a couple more tracks since only the Deluxe Version is available to stream—at least on Spotify. “Stitch Me Up” feels just a little random on this track listing, and it’s the only “new” track that was released on the Deluxe Version. It’s not bad though, just quite different from the rest of the songs. Other than that, there are alternative versions and remixes of a couple of songs before it loops back to “Be Calm”.
If you’re listening to the album (which I really hope you do), you’ll notice that there are a couple more tracks since only the Deluxe Version is available to stream—at least on Spotify. “Stitch Me Up” feels just a little random on this track listing, and it’s the only “new” track that was released on the Deluxe Version. It’s not bad though, just quite different from the rest of the songs. Other than that, there are alternative versions and remixes of a couple of songs before it loops back to “Be Calm”.
In February of 2015, I vividly remember visiting fun.’s website as a new memo popped up saying the band wasn’t breaking up. To quote whichever one of them wrote it: “first and foremost to answer the question that has been raised most often: fun is not breaking up.” I’m not sure how much longer I can keep holding my breath waiting for their return, especially after Dost compared fun.'s hypothetical return to reheated eggs (I wish I was joking). But at least this came out of their run as a band.
