Some nights

Have some fun: The hard-to-Google band’s second album hits the big time

Some nights. Some of my favorite songs of the 21st century so far were made by a currently-defunct band called The Format: among them are that irresistible ode to miscommunication She Doesn’t Get It, the jaunty-but-bittersweet Dead End, and the epic Dog Problems. The Format broke up after releasing what was perhaps their best album in 2006, but I was happy to see Nate Ruess, one-half of The Format’s core, go on to form another band, the hard-to-Google “fun.,” which seemed equally capable of delivering that wonderful meld of pop hooks and bruised romanticism which I had come to expect from his former band. (Light a Roman Candle With Me, from fun.’s 2009 debut album “Aim and Ignite,” is simply lovely.)

It’s nice, then, to see fun, score a number one hit with We Are Young, the Janelle Monae-underusing single from their new album “Some Nights.” As a follower of fun., I had put the song on one of my mixes-for-friends before it achieved massive popularity, so it was a little disorienting to hear it being played on Actual Radio Stations here, not to mention public places. (For a bizarre instant I wondered whether a mall I was wandering in had gotten hold of said mix.) That hasn’t happened in a long while (according to Wikipedia, it was “first alternative song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart since Coldplay’s Viva la Vida in 2008), but I’m glad it happened to them—not to mention Monae, who I hope is reeling in some royalties too.

With “Some Nights,” Ruess has indulged his apparent penchant for musical drama almost to the point of camp, which makes some of the moments in the album hard listening, but his pop instincts are still strong, and make this a worthwhile acquisition. To steal some lines from the BBC website review: “It’s highly peculiar, yet hugely commercial. It’s one big, beautiful oxymoron. And, in keeping with that theme, fun. will attract as many hecklers as they will fans. But, if history has taught us anything, that’s often the mark of something rather special.”

Snatch: The latest Attraction! Reaction! gig is named after a film, not a body part. Poster by Amadeus Cobangbang

Tomorrow night. If you’re looking for a gig to go to this Saturday, June 2, you’re kind of spoiled for choice. You’ve probably already heard of the fourth installment of DOPE MNL, the latest production by Mei Bastes (of Meiday! fame); it’s been dubbed POPFEST 2012 (not to be confused with the long-running NYC festival that just took place, of course), is presented in cooperation with Dr Martens PH, features Pedicab, Ang Bandang Shirley, Ciudad, Wilderness, The Strangeness, Twin Lobster, The Discoball and others, as well as DJ sets, and is happening at The Fort Strip Plaza from 3 PM onwards. Best of all, admission is free.

For QC dwellers who don’t want to trek all the way to The Fort, Saturday night’s all right for Attraction! Reaction!, one of my favorite regukar prods. This month, their show is called “Snatch” (each of their gigs is always named after a film), and features—well, it features a lot of the guys who will also be playing at DOPE MNL, like Ang Bandang Shirley, Ciudad, and Twin Lobster, as well as Blast Ople, Mount Analogue, and Musical O, among others, from 9 p.m. onwards at Route 196 on Katipunan Avenue.