blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with fall out boy

Juxtapositions
4 Out Of 5 Stars

On their last CD, Fall Out Boy announced their mission was to "Save Rock And Roll." On the follow-up, "American Beauty/American Psycho," it sounds like they're still headed out on that path. There's some righteous rock here. And there seems to be a theme here, it's all about the juxtapositions.

For example, the title track. You're blending a Brent Easton Ellis horror novel with a Grateful Dead album of classic Americana. Add Patrick Stump bouncing the word "Psycho" into a bouncy sing along, and you have the makings for a concert staple. The same with "Uma Thurman." Placing the "Pulp Fiction" star inside a song that mashes in the theme to "The Munsters" is something close to a work of genius. Then there's the heroics. Suzanne Vega's "dit dit doo doo" hook from "Tom's Diner" teases the intro before Stump challenges the listener. "You Will Remember Me...for Centuries" Stump wails to music meant to be played over a sports highlights reel. Same goes with "Immortals." Fall Out Boy are back to make rock that knows no limitations (there's nothing here that resembles a sappy ballad), and you'll have a very good time if you just let yourself follow along.

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: Lebanon
Current Music: "Centuries" Fall Out Boy

Can you be truly weird?
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Panic! At The Disco take on a heavy banner when they proclaim themselves "Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die!" If you're going to call your album with that sort of proclamation, you'd best have the material to back it up. That's not the case. There's nothing wierd or rare here, just some standard issue emo-pop.

Which is OK if you're into that sort of thing. Along with their compatriots, Fall Out Boy, Panic At The Disco weave hooks in the middle of their pop/dance aspirations. There's a few more quality on this album than the previous "Vices and Virtues," and the recorded sound is eons beyond FoB's "Save Rock and Roll." They love their handclaps and hey-heys, and aren't afraid to play with the auto-tune, just short of overusing the thing. You can also tell where the inspiration for the big hit, "Miss Jackson," comes from when they ask "are you nasty, Miss Jackson?" In other words, what have PatD done for you lately?

They know what they need to do to make up for lost ground of "Vices and Virtues." Songs like "Nicotine," the new wave-ish "Girls Girls Boys," and even the Sesame Street sample on "Vegas Lights" scream, hey, we're back to our bread and butter! Hooks! Choruses! Brendon Urie singing at full-throttle! So yes, this is a decent album. The big surprise comes at the album with the affecting ballad "The End Of All Things." Elton John may have appeared on Fall Out Boy's album, but he's making his influence here. It's a beautiful song, although the auto-tune could have been ditched.

That's about the only "Weird" moment on "Too Weird Yo Live, Too Rare To Die." Frankly, they only lived up to their album titles on the power pop gem "Pretty Odd." That doesn't mean PatD aren't ready to share their pop thrills with you. Just be prepared to hear an album that's more well done than rare.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Miss Jackson" Panic! At The Disco

Did it really need to be saved in the first place?
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Fall Out Boy proclaim their mission. That mission? "Save Rock and Roll." This after a long stagnant period where the band had allegedly broken up, lead singer Patrick Stump had his solo album, and Fall Out Boy seemed dead and buried. Not so, as they claim in the first song. "I'll fix you like a remix then raise you like a Phoenix," Stump yelps over the usual bombast and distorted pop that enjoys a current vogue.

Which is what frustrates me about "Save Rock and Roll." FOB's albums were pastiches of rock and pop elements that rang clear as a bell and had seemingly endless energy. Main songwriter Pete Wentz seemed to groove on Michael Jackson and The Rolling Stones in equal measure, especially on their best album, "Infinity On High." Despite the album's title, rock and roll is surprisingly absent from the music overall. It's more pop and elements of hip-hop, closer to Stump's solo "Soul Punk" than a FOB album. They also succumb to the loudness wars; "Save Rock and Roll" is compressed within an inch of its life. The mix is so bricked up that it's enough to fatigue your ears.

There are highlights, like "Phoenix," the lead single "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark" and the title track, which features a fine appearance by Elton John. FOB also lured Courtney Love to scream a few times on "Rat A Tat," Foxes (whoever she is) on "Just One Yesterday" and rapper Big Sean for the OK "The Mighty Fall." Guest appearances are fine to broaden an album's palette, and frankly Elton's appearance makes "Save Rock and Roll" a better song than it probably would be without him. That doesn't rescue "Save Rock and Roll" from its homogeneity or the blatant fact that the band has done much better. For all the heroic bravura in its title, "Save Rock and Roll" is merely average.

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Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Save rock and Roll" Fall Out Boy with Elton John

The record that I play
4 Out Of 5 Stars

The second album from Neon Trees combines power-pop with the kind of emo-rock that Fall Out Boy specialized in. The result is a fairly cool mix of infectious tunes that punch, with slick pop that captured radio's ear ("Everybody Talks"). But fans of the hit should be warned, there's not much else similar on "Picture Show." They rock harder than they pop. They even call one of their better songs "Teenaged Sounds," which sums up their approach almost as well as anything I could say about them.

This Utah quartet are all teenage angst and new wave fascination. "We're sick of everybody trying to be famous" they wail, just before making a Beatles/Bowie vocal climb into their hit. There's a lot of wanting it both ways, especially in the dancier tracks like the New Order-ish "Lessons In Love" and "Trust," or the sweet vocal interplay between lead vocalist Tyler Glenn and drummer Elaine Bradley that makes "Mad Love" into ridiculously catchy pop. There's also a tendency to aim for more that just quick hit ditties, with "Trust" pushing past the six minute mark.

Much like The Killers (whom Neon Trees has toured with), there's a real effort to do more then emulate the 80's sounds they clearly love with the whammy of a modern rock band. They may not have reached the level of Springsteen worship The Killers have (nor do they seem to want to), yet with several undeniably catchy songs and some snapping rock ("I Am The DJ" and "Moving in The Dark," "Picture Show's" bookends), they've earned the right to say that there's no sophomore slump in their discography.

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Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Trust" Neon Trees

Go Get Some Motion City Soundtrack
4 Out Of 5 Stars

I loved "My Dinosaur Life" by Motion City Soundtrack a few years back, enough to automatically grab "Go" the week of its release. MCS are one of a vanishing type of bands (with the demise of Panic at The Disco and Fall Out Boy) making highly melodic but energetic punky-pop with wit and verve. But "Go" finds the band in a sudden shift towards maturity. It's a move that suits the band well.

"Go" kicks off as you would expect, with a hyper and literary "Circuits and Wires" that complains about singer Justin Pierre's faulty brain and a temper addled tongue. It's properly cheeky and hooky, as is the obvious single and following song, "True Romance." But then you start to notice something; the guitars are more acoustic than electric and the pulse isn't as frantic. In fact, "Go" sounds downright adult. There's nothing here as snotty as "@!#?@!" from "My Dinosaur Life" and, in one case, the strings swell up and you might even get choked up.

"Everyone Will Die" strums a sad lyric that is also the CD's shortest song. "The cycle of intense retrospection before the curtain call...who you going to love in the meantime before it catches you?" pleads Justin just as the strings swell. It's as big a surprise and stunner as when Green Day recorded "Good Riddance/Time of Your Life." Even more pointed (but not as shocking in sounds) is "Timelines," where the band produces what could easily be a fan fave as they rattle off life events like

"Catholic school, my private hell
I stuttered till the age of 12
Discovered sex at 17
And soon thereafter, self-esteem,"

Which renders almost everything else on "Go" irrelevant. Motion City Soundtrack are a band that has been making remarkably constantly good albums for a long time, and this may be one of their best yet. After several weeks of listens, it continues to grow on me. Always a good sign.

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Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "True Romance" Motion City Soundtrack

Oh, Nostalgia, I Don't Need You Anymore
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Patrick Stump takes a walk from Fall Out Boy for his debut solo CD, and strolls into the time machine that lives on in Stump's collection of Prince and Michael Jackson albums. Or maybe Duran Duran's turn with Justin Timberlake. Either way, he's created a wickedly catchy collection of synthy-soul pop that is as self-assured as it is NOT Fall Out Boy.

It's obvious from the first track, "Explode," that Stump wants to distance himself from the pop-punk that made him rich in FOB. From there, it's one man show-time, with Stump doing the writing, playing and production for the entire album, minus a bonus track of "This City" featuring Lupe Fiasco. (Which happens to be the CD's best song.) Stump is also really open on the disc, with a blatant admission of a drinking problem on "Run Dry" and a great adultery song, "The I in Lie." After all, how many singers would gleefully shout their guilt in a chorus that boasts "I'm a Cheat, cheat, cheat!"

The mess of the modern world isn't left aside either, as "Soul Punk" has its surprisingly political moments. The funky "Dance Miserable" exhorts that you push yourself through the litany of ailments like climate change, unemployment, foreclosures, etc. Or the Timberlake ape of "Greed," with the catchy refrain of "turn your white collars up." Stump reveals himself to be a really smart pop-crafter on "Soul Punk," proving he can make his own kind of music apart from Pete Wentz. However, it is Wentz's presence that pulls the disc down a star; Stump's self-production makes the album sound at times claustrophobic and falls victim to the loudness wars. I bit of band chemistry might have helped to loosen things up a bit. Even so, better than half the songs are good for repeat listens, making "Soul Punk" a better than average solo project.

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "This City" Patrick Stump

Wingtips Waltz Across Naive Wooden Floor
4 Out of 5 Stars

Reduced to a duo, Panic! At The Disco (now with reclaimed exclamation marks!) limp back to their emo-roots on "Vices and Virtues." Drummer Spencer Smith and guitar/vocalist Brendon Urie keep the name alive as bassist Jon Walker and guitarist Ryan Ross split. It's hard to tell who split for what reason, but "Vices and Virtues" is a clear step back from the goofy psychedelia of "Pretty Odd." Urie and Smith didn't completely drop their pastiche of everything 60's (as filtered perhaps, through XTC), but this album is in no way an obvious follow-up to "Pretty Odd's" naked ambition.

In fact, I was one of the reviewers who thought PO was a five star effort, reinvigorating the pomp and entertainment of bands like Jellyfish. Opener "Ballad of Mona Lisa" certainly attempts a recall of that giddy power-pop, than the album lurches firmly back into the mold of "Fever You Can't Sweat Out." This return to emo is not a vice, as PATD is really good at it, but it's not always a virtue. Urie and Smith keep up an energetic pace, and they love the production style that includes the phrase "and the kitchen sink." However, these two were not PATD's original principle songwriters, and some of the songs lack that killer hook.

That isn't a problem on the finale, "Nearly Witches." This song sounds like a leftover from the PO sessions, contains two kitchen sinks and has the killer hook. As "Vice's" oddball out song, it's a standout along with "Mona Lisa." "Let's Kill Tonight," "Ready To Go" and the ballad "Always" are the other keepers on the CD, and indicate that is Urie and Smith can work on their writing chops, this edition of Panic! At The Disco may be one that lasts.