March 5th, 2012 1:00am
The Worst Is Yet To Come
I grew up listening to Lite FM radio in my parents' cars, so there are particular strains of 70s pop that are seared into my mind, and coded into my taste. Despite this, my frame of reference is a bit weird - there are so many songs I grew up hearing all the time, and I either still don't know exactly who sang what, or I didn't know until well into adulthood. I've been trying to find the exact frame of reference for the chorus of Fun.'s "Why Am I the One?" since I first heard it - is it Chicago? Air Supply? Electric Light Orchestra?
Crosby, Stills and Nash's "Our House"? Really, it's all of this and more. And oh man, I am such a mark for this, especially when the band show evidence of more recent influences throughout the record - Kanye-like use of AutoTune, John Darnielle-esque inflections, Phoenix-ish dynamics. I love that this band is reviving this aesthetic with zero irony - they know it's uncool, but realize that this is a type of sound where if you don't fully commit, it just won't work.
7 Responses.
3/5/12 11:09 am
Wow. Yes. I must also be a mark.
3/5/12 5:52 pm
I love how it’s Fun. with a period instead of a question mark. That way I know I’m going to have fun.
3/5/12 11:06 pm
They don’t go overboard and use an exclamation point, which is nice of them.
3/6/12 8:05 am
It’s not the exact frame of reference but the first thing I thought of was Styx’s “Fooling Yourself”. Although the very beginning of it sounds like…Modest Mouse? Weird track.
3/7/12 6:55 pm
I’m hearing a little “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” (particularly on the descending “go on”).
3/7/12 8:50 pm
Is the frame of reference the Delfonics’ “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time”?
I have a feeling this stuff would drive me nuts if I ever heard the fun. album beyond this song and the Janelle Monae one.
4/17/12 4:26 pm
Late comment yay!
This guy’s voice is really pretty tremendous. This song came up the other day when I was listening to “recently downloaded” stuff that I hadn’t ever actually listened to, and I came back and reread your comments and decided I needed to hear the rest of the recod. Anyway, I love that the band just goes for it, like you said. The song that really slays me is “Carry On.” It sounds nothing like REM really in sound, but in intent is similar to mid-to-late period REM. There are few singers, Michael Stipe principal among them, who could sell whole song of motivational mumjo jumbo lines like “When you’re lost and alone, and you’re sinking like a stone, carry on,” but man, this guy just nails it.