There's a certain punk-rock urgency to the Format's bright, swinging pop music that can't be denied, and therefore allows the duo to exist comfortably between both genres, adding ideas to and taking influences from both. On the 2006 sophomore effort, DOG PROBLEMS, the group finds itself at a winsome, strident career peak, combining longing balladry with unbeatable power-pop hooks and arrangements.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.69) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he quirky, orchestral power-pop album they'd always dreamed of making....[With] cheery vocal harmonies, an irrepressibly rhythmic bounce and lavish instrumentation."
Spin (p.78) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[S]uperbly clever....[The songs] come to vivid life with singer Nate Ruess' acerbic, spot-on witticisms."
Alternative Press (p.218) - "Lending serious chops to the proceedings are brother-and-sister duo Joey and Anna Waronker, as well as string arrangements a free-flowing '70s-AM-radio vibe..."
