Some Nights - fun.

Cuts Only

If you were expecting a review based on prior predictions, sorry for party rocking. I thought I could squeeze this one in before State Patty's Day. Oh well. fun.

Speaking of, talk about your ironic band names. On Some Nights, the second album in fun.'s catalog, the New-York trio cites the soundtrack of Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery as the inspiration for a showtune-like introduction in the first song. As it turns out, the band shares more than the same zip code and the musical taste as the renowned Manhattanite.

Lead singer Nate Reuss's lyrics are so needy and neurotic, they would make Allen himself blush. While this is better than lyrics devoid of any feeling, most of the ten tracks focus on heavy emotional nadirs like break-ups, cheating girlfriends, the fear of relationships and the struggle to embrace a metropolitan lifestyle because it's the cool thing to do (just what I can name off the top of my head). Like many groups before it, fun. commits the cardinal sin of overindulgence. A barrage of one after shows the album to be too maudlin to live up to the hype.

At its best times, the album is as grandiose as it's expected. One can hear trace elements of Paul Simon's Graceland, Queen, Maroon 5 and even Kanye West (we'll return to this later) throughout. As a triumphant foreshadowing and killer opener, the song "Some Nights" establishes the theme for the rest of the work — we as human beings are drawn to self-destructive things and the outcomes they produce. Same goes for the ever-pervasive "We Are Young," a love song for the smarmy, 2 a.m. hook-up artist that never gives up and gets lucky with a partner who loses her patience and inhibitions as the young man continues to plead.

Still, Reuss's kvetching is so constant, instead of feeling catharsis, it makes the listeners question how much they complain about trivial things; how much their ids pine for misplaced nostalgia. This feeling rears its head in "Why Am I the One," which deals with the wish to leave the big city behind and return to a child home. Anything to satisfy the desire to feel needed until ennui sets in and one is forced to move on.

Still, most of the music is very well crafted. However, there are also times when fun. steps over the line when taking a chance. On some examples, Reuss pollutes his voice with autotuning in the style of Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and not in a professional way (I'm sure I got some eye-rolls there. Be that way, uncultured swines). In the last track, "Stars," the digital effects quickly spiral out of control as the last chorus progresses ... almost to the point of where one thinks the autotune is actually autotuning itself.

In my opinion, fun. should seek to continue its songwriting direction in the mode of "All Alone," a poppy number about debating to approach an attractive girl from afar. Timid: sure. Still, it's a little less self-loathing than some of the other bungles. Common, fellas. You guys are at the top of the charts for God's sake. I'm sure that will get you a few friends.

Still, even though the masochistic rebukes are simply put too melodramatic at times, there are some items of note on Some Nights. However, approaching this one without a sense of wry suspicion will only have you question where all the fun went. Also, Mr. Allen, we've found your next screenplay.

For Your Consideration - "Some Nights," "We Are Young," "All Alone."

For Next Time - Meh. I got a day or two. Let me think about it.