I don't know about you, but I love fun. I love having it, but I also love the band. So I was really excited [to have fun] when I was given the chance to review their new live EP,
fun. Live at Fingerprints, out 4/17. The catch is that it will only be available at indie record stores in support of Record Store Day.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, the songs were all recorded live at Fingerprints, a record store in Long Beach, CA. The thing I love about this is the realness of it. The songs are spliced with "fun"-ny banter between the band ("We renamed our van Quivers Cuomo because it was quivering violently" "Or Shaky Death Cab for Cuties!"). I think fun.'s next release should be a comedy album!
But I digress: There's also music on the ep. Of course, their mega-hit "All The Pretty Girls" is included (Track 3!), but you've all heard that song by now I'm sure (unless you're Amish, which in that case, why/how are you reading this?)so I won't delve into that much. Except to say that their harmonies live on the track are amazing. The ep includes selections from their debut full-length,
Aim and Ignite like the always fun (see what I did there?) "Walking the Dog" and the melodic "The Gambler". This is a must have for any fun. fan as it presents their classic songs in a fresh new light.
What I mean by that is that fun. plays the song almost completely stripped down. It's basically a few guitars, a piano, some basic percussion instruments, and a couple of "fun" guys (I'll stop that now). I think that the closest a song gets to its recorded version is on "Take Your Time (Coming Home)" and even the comparisons there are scarce. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, quite the contrary: I actually think I like the live versions more than I did on
Aim and Ignite I didn't think it was possible, but with this EP, I had more fun (oops).-
hanna kasper
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fun. on Myspace