Review Summary: Nate Ruess is done watching all the fun happen from the bleachers.
Although it’s been twenty years since The Format released their crown jewel
Dog Problems, frontman Nate Ruess is even more widely known for his work with Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff in the short-lived but brightly burning mainstream indie-pop act Fun. The last time Ruess released a full-length album of any kind was in 2015 when he dropped his first and only solo record,
Grand Romantic, to lukewarm applause. To say that it’s been a while would be an understatement, but Ruess’ return to the music scene serves as a nostalgic blast for thousands of 2000s and 2010s indie-pop listeners.
The Format’s third LP,
Boycott Heaven, is a more than just a serviceable reunion. The album is of course at its best when it plays to Ruess’ undeniable vocal talents with rocky, upbeat instrumentation, as it does on the propulsive opener ‘No Gold At The Top’. Singles ‘Holy Roller’ and Shot in the Dark’ also serve up infectious melodic hooks with bombastic refrains – and in these moments, fans of The Format and Fun. alike will find themselves in back in their glory days. ‘Depressed’ is the hidden gem of the record, dialing up the energy with Sam Means’ beefiest riffs on record and a rollercoaster vocal performance that sees Nate swing between borderline screams (as he does again on 'Human Nature's) and delightfully layered falsetto. As the energy of this album rises, so does its quality.
The primary drawback to
Boycott Heaven is that so much of it gets bogged down in mild to mid-tempo balladry. Now, anyone familiar with Ruess knows he can pull off a mean piano ballad – and ‘The Gambler’ will never fail to make me an emotional mess – but nothing here (particularly among ‘Forever’, ‘Leave It Alone’, ‘Back To Life’, and the title track) hits all that powerful. In contrast to highlights like the aforementioned ‘Depressed’, these songs feel less like a bold and triumphant re-introduction for The Format, and more like quietly slipping in the back door to a gathering. They’re just sort of there, not adding much life to the party while not necessarily detracting from the experience either.
That doesn’t mean that The Format don’t occasionally nail the slower formula. ‘No You Don’t’ spans over five minutes and gets better the longer it progresses, eventually unfurling into a grandiose refrain underpinned by emotive, driving electric guitars. ‘Right Where I Belong’ – the choice “ballad single” – endearingly covers the band’s transition from the limelight to settling down, having kids, and finding fulfillment in domestic duties: “Now I’m waking up sober, brushing teeth, tying shoes / It took my whole life to build this home.” It serves as a reminder of just how long it’s been since
Dog Problems, and how different the people who made that record are from the ones who wrote
Boycott Heaven. If you think back to where you were two decades ago, you’ll likely feel the same way.
Taken as a whole,
Boycott Heaven is a strong, if slightly inconsistent, third album. Listeners who enjoyed The Format back in the 2000s will be elated just to hear Nate sing again, and there’s certainly a nostalgic factor at play here. The release may not be as fun as…well, Fun., but it marks yet another quality entry into Ruess & co.’s catalog. Any time an iconic vocalist returns to deliver more music to the masses, it’s a major win. Here’s to hoping that there’s even more where this came from.
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