Boycott Heaven

About

Since delivering the generation-defining alt-pop rallying cry “We Are Young” with Fun. back in 2011, Nate Ruess has become the golden-voiced muse to everyone from P!nk to Brian Wilson to Young Thug. But for a certain subset of indie kids, he’ll always be one half of The Format, the beloved Arizona outfit he fronted with childhood pal Sam Means for a brief two-album run in the 2000s. And on the duo’s first album in 20 years, they pick up right where they left off—i.e., mashing the timeless tunesmithery of The Beatles, Queen, and Weezer through a post-emo filter—as if Ruess’ past two decades of A-list infiltration was all just a dream. As ever, Ruess’ voice remains one of the most attention-seizing instruments in modern rock, with the inspirational ode to perseverance “Shot in the Dark” suggesting Freddie Mercury by way of <i>The Joshua Tree</i>. However, the youthful exuberance of old is spiked with an age-appropriate world-weariness: You won’t find a more upbeat power-pop song about feeling down than “Depressed,” while the battle-scarred hymn “Leave It Alone (Till the Morning)” lights a candle for the kids in Gaza. Clearly, for Ruess and Means, <i>Boycott Heaven</i> is no mere exercise in mid-2000s nostalgia, but a gut-punching emotional response to life in the here and now.

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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