The Worst Is Yet To Come

Fun. “Why Am I the One?”

I grew up listening to Lite FM radio in my parents’ cars, so there are particular strains of 70s pop that are seared into my mind, and coded into my taste. Despite this, my frame of reference is a bit weird – there are so many songs I grew up hearing all the time, and I either still don’t know exactly who sang what, or I didn’t know until well into adulthood. I’ve been trying to find the exact frame of reference for the chorus of Fun.’s “Why Am I the One?” since I first heard it – is it Chicago? Air Supply? Electric Light Orchestra? Crosby, Stills and Nash’s “Our House”? Really, it’s all of this and more. And oh man, I am such a mark for this, especially when the band show evidence of more recent influences throughout the record – Kanye-like use of AutoTune, John Darnielle-esque inflections, Phoenix-ish dynamics. I love that this band is reviving this aesthetic with zero irony – they know it’s uncool, but realize that this is a type of sound where if you don’t fully commit, it just won’t work.

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