It’s been a very long time since The Format felt like an active concern, which is exactly why Boycott Heaven lands harder than I expected. Reunion albums from beloved indie bands usually ask for credit just for existing. This one doesn’t. In 2026, The Format come back sounding less interested in revisiting old chemistry than in proving they still know how to make a record that pushes forward. That difference matters. The best thing here is not nostalgia for Dog Problems, even if that album hangs over the whole project. It’s the sense that Nate Ruess and Sam Means are writing from the present tense, with enough confidence to let these songs get bigger, stranger, and occasionally messier than a safe comeback would allow.
Re-entry, not reunion theater
The strongest case for Boycott Heaven is that it behaves like a working album, not a commemorative one. You can hear that right away on “No Gold at the Top,” which opens the record with a brisk, uncluttered push instead of a dramatic curtain-raiser. At just over three minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and the arrangement feels built to move, not to pose. Around the first minute, the rhythm tightens and Ruess starts leaning harder into the melody, which gives the song a little lift without turning it into arena-rock cosplay. “Holy Roller” follows with a sharper edge, and even without overreading the production, there’s a pleasing bite to the guitars that keeps the song from sounding too polished. That early one-two punch matters because it tells you this isn’t a museum piece. The duo format still makes sense here: Ruess remains the most recognizable voice, but the album’s momentum depends just as much on Means shaping these songs into something larger than singer-songwriter confessionals.
Ruess still has the lane
Nate Ruess is still the easiest thing to point to on a Format record, but Boycott Heaven works best when his voice is serving the song rather than standing above it. “No You Don’t” is the clearest example. At five minutes and nineteen seconds, it has room to breathe, and Ruess uses that space well. He doesn’t oversing the opening stretch; he lets the phrasing do the work, then opens up later as the arrangement swells behind him. That control is more impressive to me than sheer range. On “Right Where I Belong,” which several reactions describe as an acoustic love song, he dials things back even further. The result is one of the album’s most grounded performances, and it keeps the sentiment from getting syrupy. If you only know Ruess from his time with fun., this record is a useful reminder that his real strength has never been volume alone. He can still sell a dramatic chorus, sure, but he’s better when he sounds slightly frayed, like he’s choosing each line as he goes.
Sam Means builds the room around him
What keeps this from becoming a frontman showcase is the way the arrangements keep opening outward. That’s where Sam Means really earns his keep. “Shot in the Dark” is one of the better examples of the album’s pop-rock swing: it moves with purpose, but it doesn’t rush, and the band lets the hook arrive through accumulation instead of brute force. The title track also makes the case for the reunion angle. One review snippet points to the line flip in “Boycott Heaven” — holding on, letting go, then reversing the thought — and that uncertainty fits the music. The song sounds firm on the surface while leaving room for doubt underneath. “Leave It Alone (Till the Morning)” goes even bigger. The research pack repeatedly mentions its crunchy guitar textures, and that description fits; the song has a rougher, more stressed-out surface than the cleaner pop moves elsewhere on the album. If some listeners are hearing shades of Fleetwood Mac, Heart, or even the Allman Bros. in this record’s broader rock instincts, I get it. Not because The Format suddenly turn classic-rock, but because they finally let these songs take up more room.
Serious subjects, plainspoken delivery
Another reason this comeback feels necessary is that the writing is aimed at adult concerns without becoming stiff about it. The album touches religion, war, mental health, aging, and relationships, and it generally handles those topics in direct language rather than hiding behind abstraction. “Depressed” could have easily gone wrong with a title that blunt, but the plainness is part of why it works. Likewise, “Boycott Heaven” and “Holy Roller” suggest that Ruess and Means are willing to write about faith and doubt in terms that sound lived in, not merely decorative. That said, this is probably where the criticisms land most fairly. I don’t think the writing here consistently reaches the sharp, quotable level of Dog Problems. A few songs feel stronger in feeling than in phrasing, and that may be why some responses call the album uneven. Still, I’d take a slightly ragged record with real subjects on its mind over a spotless reunion album with nothing at stake. Boycott Heaven isn’t trying to preserve the old version of The Format in amber. It’s trying to figure out what this band can say now.
A comeback worth arguing with
That last point is why I like this record, even with its uneven edges. Not every song hits with the same force, and I understand the listeners who think the standout moments outpace the full-album consistency. But the peaks are high enough to make the whole thing matter. “No You Don’t,” “Right Where I Belong,” “Shot in the Dark,” and “Leave It Alone (Till the Morning)” all show different strengths, while “No Gold at the Top” does the underrated work of opening the album without fanfare or self-congratulation. For a 2026 reunion album, that restraint counts for a lot. The Format could have come back leaning on memory and personality alone. Instead, Ruess and Means made a record that sounds willing to risk a little disappointment in exchange for saying something current. I’ll take that trade every time. This one lands around a 7.5/10 for me: not flawless, but alive in the ways that matter.
If you’ve been curious whether this return is the real thing, start with “No You Don’t,” “Right Where I Belong,” and “Leave It Alone (Till the Morning),” then give the full album a listen.
Tracklist
- No Gold at the Top 3:18
- Holy Roller 3:56
- Shot in the Dark 4:12
- Forever 3:47
- Depressed 3:32
- No You Don't 5:19
- Right Where I Belong 4:00
- Human Nature 3:01
- Leave It Alone (Till the Morning) 4:33
- Boycott Heaven 4:36
- Back to Life 3:26
