From Under the Cork Tree

by

Fall Out Boy

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Fall Out Boy are masters at perfecting the art of pop-punk. The songs have good hooks, catchy melodies, smart lyrics(not necessarily thought-provoking or deep, but they've got some pretty good one-liners), and you can't deny the fact that the singer, Patrick Stump, has a great range. The Remix of Sugar We're Goin' Down is a little quieter, with a louder bass, and the Dance Dance remix has more of an electronic vibe.

Sure, pop-punk may just be a trend, but why not enjoy it while it lasts?

P.S. To the person who is bitching about what "punk rock" is - shut up. First of all, you obviously haven't heard anything from Fall Out Boy other than their singles, so you have no place to write a review on their albums. Second of all, Fall Out Boy have never called themselves punk, and they are not "posing" as a punk band. They are pop-punk and they know it. Name-dropping the Sex Pistols doesn't make you look any cooler, it just makes you look like a retarded, closed-minded elitist. And please, use punctuation. Your use of run-on sentences further proves yourself as a moron.

For the life of me, I will never understand why the American public salivates over such mediocrity. There are tons of great musicians out there deserving of a wide audience, but 9 out of 10 times they are passed over in favor of such banal, humdrum, been-there-done-that pop/punk drivel.

The first entry in the realm of extremely poppy corporate punk was Green Day. They were somewhat irritating, but they were also catchy, at times even witty, and eventually they matured beyond the same tired arrangements and juvenile song topics. I wouldn't say Green Day evolved into something great, but at least now they're tolerable. The same, however, cannot be said of the bands that followed in their footsteps - among them, Blink 182, Sum 41, Bowling For Soup, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, and the latest flavor of the month, Fall Out Boy.

What, if anything, sets Fall Out Boy apart from the rest of the pack? Well, I'll give them some credit for some imaginative song titles: "Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends", "I've Got A Dark Alley And A Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)", etc. However, judging by what is heard on the CD (and this is a review of the CD, after all), one would be hard-pressed to find any differences whatsoever.

Let's see: Nasally, high-pitched singer? Check. Arrangements usually based on three or four chords? Check. Young, clean-shaven pretty boys with "look at me, aren't I cute" haircuts? Check. Songs that that almost exclusively are based upon the topics of love and/or sex? Check. This overwhelming cheesiness that permeates all the songs along with an irritating slick corporate pop sound? Check.

That's right. Fall Out Boy's latest, From Under The Cork Tree, offers up a sound that has been done to death - yet miraculously it still sells like hotcakes. Maybe it's a powerful record label, constant exposure from the mass media outlets, or maybe Fall Out Boy's fans (who are almost all either teen or preteen girls) are just suckers for a bunch of cute faces - who knows?

It's been said that the members of FOB were involved in other (perhaps more credible) metal and punk rock projects in the past - however, that doesn't lend any relevance whatsoever to what they're putting out now. There's also some that claim that FOB represent a parody of this tired genre, which I don't buy for a second - while there's hints of sarcasm and a decent line or two here and there, the vast majority of the wit is reserved for the song titles, and there's nothing that would indicate to me that FOB isn't COMPLETELY serious about their bubblegum pseudo-punk pop/rock. There's a surprising carnal undertone to it, but on the surface you could easily mistake "Dance, Dance" as being just a cheesy, sugary ode to dancing - most would play it at a junior high dance party or at Chuck E. Cheese without a second thought.

I also don't get the "emo" tag that this band receives. Are they emotional? Yes (but really, how many bands aren't to some extent?). Do they sound like other bands classified as "emo"? No - just listen to them and you'll see that they have far more in common with Simple Plan than Silverstein. Somehow, unlike SP and Bowling For Soup, this receives airplay on alternative radio, which is also baffling - FOB is clearly a band that just wants to sell records and top charts, and that's fine, but they don't belong on Alternative. They belong on the hit music stations with all the other mindless, trendy commercial junk.

In summary: Fall Out Boy are just another safe pop act that takes no chances. The songs are all relatively corny and most likely written in the hopes that they would score groupies because of them - and maybe they will, but hey ... 17 will get you 20. To give you an idea of how cheesy this band is, they even named one of their songs after a quote from Dirty Dancing ("Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner")! To that end, here's hoping that Fall Out Boy's fame lasts only 15 minutes, after which they will quickly "Dance" out of here! And I'm not looking for a waltz either - I'd much prefer a quick step.