Months ago, I told you about Fun, or, the new incarnation of The Format.

First, a little background: Fun is fronted by Nate Reuss, former lead singer of the now defunct band The Format. If you lived in Phoenix in the mid 2000’s and were dialed into local music, you had them on repeat and often muttered “These guys are ridiculously amazing. Seriously.” They were the one of the hottest things to come out of AZ, besides, you know, the fucking sun.

Well, the band is knee-deep in its kickoff tour. I caught them in Houston when they opened for Manchester Orchestra (Audrye Sessions was also on the bill).

In between stops, Fun sat down for a studio performance at Paste. “The Gambler” is a pretty ( “I swear when I grow up,  I won’t just buy you a rose / I will buy the flower shop”), haunting (“We moved to Arizona to save our only son”) song that is amongst my list of top singles for 2009.

Note: Click on Menu to navigate songs.

The Format’s history makes for a decent Behind the Music episode. The band garnered critical acclaim, Reuss started dealing with a slew of relationship disasters and boozing more heavily, and the band got a shit load of dogs together, which Reuss was stuck with when The Format broke up.

Reuss is the only former Format member in Fun, but his voice is so impressionable that it’s impossible not to dub Fun the “The New Format.” Whatever. Fun’s debut EP won’t drop until this summer. Until then, enjoy “At Least I’m Not as Sad (As I Used to Be)” – which is your typical saloon-inspired, orchestra-fused indie ballad.