Fall Out Boy

From Under the Cork Tree (Island)
by Lauren Bussard

I remember back in 2003, sitting in the Lollipop offices cataloguing CDs, and unwrapping Fall Out Boy‘s debut album, Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out With Your Girl. “This looks like something I’d like,” I said to myself. Unfortunately, so much poppy-punky pseudo-crap was pouring into the office on a daily basis that I’d almost given up listening to every little CD that caught my eye, but I decided to give Fall Out Boy a chance anyway.

The record was alright, but it sounded even better months later when I discovered it had been re-released and re-titled Take This To Your Grave. Immediately, Fall Out Boy shot to the top of my list of cute, fun new bands to watch.

With their major label debut, From Under the Cork Tree, Fall Out Boy has given their sound a new twist, yet held onto their adorable pop roots. The first single, “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” is a dynamic blend of surging guitars, slamming drums, and longing vocals, and “Dance, Dance” starts with a buoyant bass line reminiscent of The Cure and mutates into a stomping rock tune.

The only thing about the album that really makes me roll my eyes and gag me with a spoon is the bands’ tendency to pick really ridiculously long song titles, as in, “I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me.” Yes, I guess that might be sort of funny in another universe, if all 12 songs on the album weren’t similarly titled. But if this sort of thing doesn’t peeve you, then I’d say the album is flawless.
(www.islandrecords.com)