Dreams will come true on Tuesday for local friends Sam Means and Nate Ruess when their band the Format sees the release of its national debut CD, “Interventions and Lullabies,” on Elektra Records.

“We're still pinching ourselves every single day,” singer/songwriter Ruess, 21, says by cell phone en route to a tour stop in Chicago. “When you take a step back from it and realize where you're at and what you're doing, it's amazing. It doesn't get any better than this.”

The fact that their musical partnership is less than two years old makes the pair's meteoric rise to this level of the music business all the more astounding.

“It's impossible for us to look back and not say, ‘I can't believe this is happening.’ It really is amazing,” says guitarist/songwriter Means, 23.

The new album is built on the same pure pop foundation introduced last year on the Format's first local release, “EP.” Means’ acoustic guitar leads the way while Ruess’ plaintive voice soars above it on sugary sweet melodies and irresistible singalong choruses. The main difference on the new album is the high-dollar production and the inclusion of a wider variety of instruments such as banjo, tuba, sleigh bells and accordion.

“Going into it, we wanted to throw in as many instruments as possible, and there was a lot of fun stuff lying around that we were able to play with,” Means says. “Some things didn't end up working, but for the most part using some of those instruments for the first time turned out really cool so we kept it.”

Many of the songs on the CD reference their hometown and streets and places in it.

“I was glorifying Arizona because we love it there,” Ruess says. “It's our home and it's really all I know — I've lived there basically my whole life and so has Sam.”

The new album's first single will be the appropriately titled “The First Single,” a rerecorded version of the “EP” track, which garnered steady local airplay last year and brought the band to the attention of major record labels.

Should the song — a driving exploration of self-doubt with musical hooks to spare — cause a national stir similar to the one it generated locally last year, the Format may well find themselves with a chart hit. In the meantime, they've spent the better part of this year preparing for such an eventuality by touring relentlessly with a band of four backing musicians.

“In the last year, I've seen more places than I've seen in my entire life,” Ruess says. “It's crazy, like I can't believe I'm driving through Indiana for the third time in just a few months.”

With so much time spent away from the Valley and their family and friends, the pair relies on the friendship that gave rise to the band in the first place.

“We're stuck with each other every single day, but it's still great,” Ruess says. “Even the few times we have been at home, I've still gone to hang out with Sam.”

CD review

The Format
‘Interventions and Lullabies’

Some albums take time to grow on you, while others hook you on the first listen. The Format's “Interventions and Lullabies” is definitely one of the latter. Building on the immense promise of their five-song “EP,” which earned the top spot on Get Out's list of best local releases of 2002, the Valley duo's national debut is even more of a stunner. Appropriately, the leadoff track is “The First Single,” one of two “EP” tracks rerecorded here. Featuring a surging rhythm, Sam Means’ quickly strummed acoustic guitar and singer Nate Ruess’ layered harmony vocals on a pretty melody and catchy chorus, the song sets a winning template for all the tracks that follow. Lyrically, Ruess is a charmer: He slyly references places in his hometown and is self-aware without being painfully self-conscious, wondering at one point if he's using a metaphor or simile before concluding “I'm still learning.”

As good as “The First Single” is, and it's very, very good, “Tie the Rope” may top it. A peppy pop ditty with hooks galore, it's leavened with these lyrics: “Just tie the rope and kick the chair / Leave me hanging there, gasping for air.” That stark juxtaposition of musical sweetness and lyrical sorrow is a great tradition linking artists from Smokey Robinson to the Smiths and places the Format in some fine company. The duo have definitely done their homework, and it shows in subtle nods to their pop predecessors: hand claps in choruses, tinkling tambourines, the quiet accordion in “A Mess to Be Made” and especially the seventh chord that closes “I'm Ready, I Am.” All told, “Interventions and Lullabies” impresses from start to finish. A

Listen to “The First Single” at www. theformat.com.

The Format CD signing event
Where: Zia Records, 3851 E. Thunderbird Road, Phoenix
When: Midnight Monday
How much: Free
Info:

The Format acoustic show and CD signing
Where: Lower level of Memorial Union on ASU campus
When: Noon Tuesday
How much: Free
Info: , www.hoodlumsmusic.com

The Format CD release party
Where: The Bash on Ash, 230 W. Fifth St., Tempe
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
How much: $5, all ages
Info: