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Every Wednesday, 9th IMA Judge Mark Hoppus (Blink 182) blogs about his favorite new band for Spin.com. This week, he just so happened to pick a band that submitted to the 9th Annual IMAs: fun.

Here’s why Hoppus loves fun.:

When he’s not commandeering the stage as the boisterous bassist for SoCal punks Blink-182, Tweeting wisdom to more than 1.4 million followers, or handling album production duties for bands like Motion City Soundtrack and New Found Glory, you’d think Mark Hoppus would turn down the music.

Not. Possible.

In our new series, Hopp on Pop, Hoppus is sharing his favorite up-and-coming acts, culled from his incessant pursuit of all that rocks.

fun.

HOMETOWN:
New York, NY

THE BASICS:
Nate Ruess, frontman of now-defunct popsters the Format, teams with Steel Train’s Jack Antonoff and Anathallo’s Andrew Dost for new collection of quirky, theatrical rock songs.

WHERE HOPP HEARD THEM FIRST:
“I got in touch with the Format so I could interview them for my podcast and play their music, and I ended up keeping in touch with Nate. I was a huge fan of the Format and Dog Problems was one of my favorite records of all time — such a genius record. I was really bummed when I found out the Format were breaking up. Nate actually sent me the fun. record, Aim & Ignite, six or eight months ago and I was blown away by how imaginative and creative these guys are. ”

WHY THEY ROCK:
“These are great, great pop songs and they just take it into outer space. Hopefully we can work on something in the future because I’m so inspired listening to Nate. I’m really impressed — and a little jealous of how his spectrum is so broad.”

HOPP’S TOP TRACK:
“‘At Least I’m Not as Sad (As I Used to Be).’ I love the line: ‘We were laughing and drinking, and smoking and singing.’ It’s just a rad image of good times. Very simple yet very poetic.”