Album Review: The Format - "Boycott Heaven"

20 years later, Nate Ruess and Sam Means reignite The Format with Boycott Heaven. The songs are punchy, larger than life, and instantly fun.

Vanity Label - 2026

The Format are a duo consisting of multi-instrumentalists and songwriters Sam Means and Nate Ruess. They initially started in the early 2000's, making power pop and indie rock music with sharp aims towards the strife and unfairness within music industry, hence The Format's name and their first single, titled "The First Single." They released two albums, 2003's Interventions + Lullabies through Elektra and 2006's Dog Problems independently due to their shift to Atlantic and the label's inability to support them. Afterwards, they hung it up and worked on different projects. Means released solo music over the years and also started the merch company Hello Merch to help musicians get the profits they deserve from merchandise sales. Ruess went to form the trio fun. with (now famed producer) Jack Antonoff and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Dost, released a solo album back in 2015, and has written songs for artists like Pink, Keith Urban, Halsey, and Kesha.

Both have been busy in their own right since The Format's demise, but there seemed to be enough time to spark interest in a reunion in the late 2010's, over ten years after their initial hiatus. Once the pandemic occurred in 2020, the upcoming reunion shows were cancelled and Ruess ended up working on new music that was presumably for a new solo album. Once he taught himself how to play guitar for the first time and began to write new songs, he decided to call up Means to reunite as The Format again. This results in Boycott Heaven, the duo's third studio album, their first new one in over 20 years. Two decades is a long ass time and Ruess and Means certainly know it, both being full on adults and parents now. The music as a result is more mature and their is a clear growth heard between the two as artists. There's still the love of 90's alt rock, indie rock, power pop, and pop rock throughout Boycott Heaven and a greater sense of urgency in the songwriting and instrumentals. Rock producer Brendan O'Brien, who has produced for huge stadium filling artists like The Killers, AC/DC, and Rage Against the Machine, is in the producer's chair and as a result, these songs are all the more punchy, larger than life, and instantly fun.

The album kicks off with "No Gold at the Top," a vocoder-tinged track that starts off with a pretty intimate buildup ("I can feel your blood / I wanna hold your hand") that lasts for awhile until it absolutely explodes in its fiery chorus. This song, like the entire album, really wants you to crank it up on your car stereo and let it blast through your ears. You can instantly hear Ruess's overdramatic, vocals that reach so high they reach towards heaven. The lead single "Holy Roller" is a sweet anthem that has all the drama and charisma you'd expect from Ruess and Means. The chorus is pretty timeless and it has one of the best hooks on the record. If it rocked a little bit less, I could easily hear this one on a fun. album. "Shot in the Dark" is another solid tune, one that's folksy and acoustically driven (think fun.'s "Carry On" or Ruess's own "Great Big Storm"), resulting in an anthemic song you may want to chant along with your friends at the local bar (Not me, though. I'd rather be at a coffee shop humming along).

"Forever" has some of the best vocal moments on the record, while "Depressed" is all over the place in a great way, going towards heavier guitar passages to bossa nova. "No You Don't" is a more tender, emotional track that has a chorus that hits pretty hard in my 14 year old self's heart. "Right Where I Belong" is an acoustic ditty that is sweetly sung and written about growing up with your significant other into older adulthood. It's a bit too polished for me, especially with its stomp and clap moments but it's admirable. "Human Nature" is a rocker that goes a little bit wilder and crazier, especially on Ruess's vocal range. It goes a little rougher than I would like and if it was sung a bit cleaner and smoother, it would be a better track. "Leave It Alone" has some grungy guitars matched with some drum machine beats, with Ruess singing about "all the kids in Gaza are dying to go home / the problem is they got nowhere to go." It's a sweet sentiment and is impressively explicit to sing about, (especially with people's pushback against any opposition of war) but Ruess could've dug a bit deeper in the songwriting. It's a bit rudimentary but I commend him regardless for including it. The title track is one of the strongest moments on the record and is arguably my favorite on the record. It has the best vocal performance and is the most emotionally resonant. "Back to Life" concludes the album with a classic piano ballad, where Ruess has always had his greatest strengths with.

Boycott Heaven has quite a lot going for it. There are solid performances throughout and as a whole it's an enjoyable listen. Nate Ruess shines with his sturdy and reliable vocal range, while Sam Means provides great instrumentation throughout. Even after 20 years, the duo know how to make cohesively great music together. Despite the record's second half not being as strong as its first, I still recommend it and it gets better with each listen. If anything, the highlights across this record are enough to satisfy and keep you coming back for more.

My Rating: 7 / 10

Favorite Songs: "Boycott Heaven," "Forever," "No Gold at the Top," "Depressed," "Holy Roller," "No You Don't"