Saturday, August 9, 2014

Random song. fun. without Autotune

I love fun.  Despite the fact they have a stupid name that constantly causes confusion.
Example:
 "I'm going to the fun. concert tomorrow."
"Oh good.  Who's playing?"
"fun."
"Is that a band?"
"Yes, they are called fun.  But with no capital 'f' and a period at the end after the 'n'."
"Huh.  Never heard of them."


But they have, of course.  That "We Are Young" song was everywhere for an entire summer and "Some Nights" took over the following autumn.  People have heard them, they just don't know it.

Their first album, "Aim and Ignite" was full of quirky and well, fun songs with non-standard pop music instruments (trombones anyone?).  I loved it a lot. They reminded me of Queen in their playfulness.  So I wasn't really that excited when their second album "Some Nights" seemed to have been taken over by the Autotune.  It was out of control, espeically on later tracks.(What would be "side two" if we were still listening to albums)  At one point while I was listening to "Some Nights" the boyfriend yelled from the back of the house, "Are you listening to Autotune the News?"  Not the greatest thing to be confused with.

Where was all the great singing I heard on the first album?

So I was happy to find the above video taken by a cell phone wielding college student at the University of Rochester on October 2, 2011. It's the same song from the album, but minus the Autotune.   I'm hoping their next album will be more of what came first and less of what came second.

Also, here's my favorite song from "Aim and Ignite"  It's chock full of lyrics (unlike the catchy-but-overly-repetitive "We Are Young") it seems to be about the lead singer's parents, and is very sweet.




2 comments:

  1. As much as I enjoy fun., I'm with you. The Autotune on "Some Nights" is occasionally out of control, especially on the song "Stars." I don't know if I've ever listened to that song all the way through because it makes me want to claw my ears off. I didn't even know that wasn't their first album. I just listened to a bit of "Aim and Ignite" on iTunes. I agree, very Queen-like.

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  2. I was listening to my fun. channel on Pandora, and they were actually singing, when I came to this post. I also rather enjoy them, too. The bassist/guitarist (?) has a newish solo album out (thought it has the name of a band) and it has a song, Get Better, that is fabulous. I love that they can really sing. I feel like they use the autotune rather ironically, purposefully not obscuring that it is in use.

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