The Format

Dog Problems

[4/5] Ever have the urge to lie barefoot in the grass and watch the clouds roll by, but you wouldn’t actually do it because your friends would ridicule you for being “emo”? The Format recreate that idyllic moment in time on their second full-length, Dog Problems, a pop-rock odyssey sans trite lyrical clichés and guitar-overload breakdowns. The Arizona duo of Sam Means and Nate Ruess leave room for spontaneous hand-clapping on the feel-good summer anthem “Oceans” and take you on a drug-free ride on their version of the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” on the shagadelic horn-laden title rack. Lending serious chops to the proceedings are brother-and-sister duo Joey and Anna Waronker, as well as string arrangements and a free-flowing ’70s-AM-radio vibe in which gentile piano sections camouflage lamentable pathos. (NETTWERK) Jennifer Sica