That headline made me sad to type. There was a period of high school during which I listened to The Format (primarily Arizona natives Sam Means and Nate Ruess, though their tours included many other members) non-stop, as some of my friends can attest. They put out some of the catchiest pop songs I had ever heard, with the voice of Ruess unique to any other in the industry, which truly made the band stand out. They also experimented a ton with arrangements and instruments, as their second full-length, Dog Problems, demonstrated. When Dog Problems came out in 2006, people (including me) were enamored with the growth and maturity of The Format and were hoping for even bigger and better things (despite Dog Problems already becoming a chart-topper on many “best-of” lists for ’06.) Alas, all good things must come to an end, and The Format went on a (pretty definite) hiatus in February, 2008.
Ruess has started up a new band, Fun, with Andrew Dost of Anathallo (!) and Jack Antonoff of Steel Train, and Means is working on a merchandise store entitled “Hello Merch”, which you can find at, whaddaya know, hellomerch.com. He also recently finished writing/recording music with friends – Marko, Don, Patrick (Limbeck), Jeff (Reuben’s Accomplice), Ian (El Oso Negro) – for a movie called The Sinking of Santa Isabel (2008).
Anyway, back to the indelibly fun band that The Format was (not to be confused with Ruess’ Fun, previously aforementioned, which I haven’t taken as much of a liking to yet). The Format’s first full-length, Interventions and Lullabies, is what really grabbed my listening appetite, especially “The First Single”, “Wait Wait Wait”, and “Give It Up”. Ruess and Means settled on the name The Format to poke fun at mainstream radio and its propensity to pick out songs with a certain format that matched precisely what they were looking for in a pop song, which made everything on the radio sound pretty much the same. Yet The Format were able to get some public-play, keeping themselves poppy yet unique all at once. They developed quite a following, so fans like me were absolutely devasatated when we heard Ruess and Means were calling it quits. I know you can’t see me but I’m crying right now. I’m a baby who misses his pacifier. I’m a….nevermind, I’ll keep the metaphors to myself.
If for some odd reason you never developed a liking to this band, or have never heard some of their material, listen up to some of my favorites here.
The Format – “Time Bomb” (alternate link – left click) [MP3] (from Dog Problems)
The Format – “The First Single” (alternate link – left click) [MP3] (from Interventions and Lullabies)
The Format – “Give It Up” (alternate link – left click) [MP3] (from Interventions and Lullabies)
The Format – “On Your Porch (acoustic)” (alternate link – left click) [MP3] (from Snails)
on your porch… goosebumpery
Dog Problems is one of my favourite records ever. Much missed.