They’re finally back. After a hiatus lasting a little over three years, which commenced promptly at the end of 2009, American pop-punk band Fall Out Boy has completely come out of the dark.
Consisting of 33-year-old bassist Pete Wentz, 28-year-old vocalist Patrick Stump, 32-year-old guitarist Joe Trohman, and 32-year-old drummer Andy Hurley, the members of Fall Out Boy have come and spoken out about their disappearance in the music scene; all which happened after their last musical showings with fellow musicians Blink 182 and Panic! At the Disco at their August 2009 show in Chicago.
The group started off by addressing the various rumors circulating about a very quiet break-up between the band members, stating on February 4 in a Tumblr post: “This isn’t a reunion because we never broke up. We need to plug back in and make some music that matters to us.”
Although the speculations about the relationships of the members were justifiably up in the air, primarily because of the individual works going on after the 2009 concert; including the side projects of Wentz’s band, The Black Cards; Stump’s solo album, Soul Punk; and at one point Trohman and Hurley’s collaboration with members of the band Anthrax to create The Damn Things.
Despite the assumptions though, Fall Out Boy has come together to eliminate the uncertainty cast by the rumor mill and bring with them many surprises for their devout fan base, putting it as “The future of Fall Out Boy starts now. Save rock and roll,” their Tumblr stated.
Once their adoring public was able to shake off the stunned effect they underwent after news of the band’s re-arrival, it was announced on February 4 that a tour for the band’s fifth studio album, Save Rock and Roll, would be in action immediately in order to celebrate the regrouping. Three exclusive one-night-only club shows were announced to kick off the tour, and took place at club Subterranean in Chicago on February 4, Webster Hall Studio in New York City on February 5, and finally at the Roxy in Los Angeles on February 7.
Their audience quickly conveyed their reaction in both viral responses towards the band and ticket sales. Almost instantaneously, admissions to all shows across the nation sold out, and with the demands going up so did the prices; at times even reaching prices of $425 for a single general admissions ticket.
Almost as if there wasn’t enough craze and pandemonium encompassing Fall Out Boy, things were kicked up to another level of insanity with the release of the first single off Save Rock and Roll titled “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ‘Em Up)”. Keeping in line with the pop-punk, emo sound that the band had worked on developing over the past decade, the single holds ties to the rhythms that originally captured their audience’s attention.
However “Light ‘Em Up” isn’t wholly the same animal as Fall Out Boy’s four preceding albums. As the song progresses past the opening cords a more pop tune makes itself known while being accompanied by small dosages of auto-tune, all serving as a emphasis on Stump’s vocals.
What the song provides in musical transitions though it does not lyrically, which is sad seeing how fantastic the lyrics were in past works such as “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” and “The Take Over the Breaks Over.”
In the very beginning the word choices and phrases seem promising, but after the first chorus things start to fall apart. Take for instance the lyric “A constellation of tears on your lashes, burn, everything you love, then burn the ashes,” which doesn’t really convey anything of importance or depth, but instead just comes off as cliché and distant. After the lackluster lyrics only an overtly repeated chorus comes about to wrap up the song.
Overall, it can be said that the song itself is not bad. It is catchy and the music components are in fact there, but it is clearly displayed where the focus of the band was when making the single.
If this single is any indication of their new album it is very possible that there will be the classic Fall Out Boy appeal to draw in the old fans, and maybe even enough pop punk bases to gain a few newcomers. Though there seems to be a slight shift in the musical palette, the pure excitement of the band’s reappearance could be enough to spark that similar burst of middle school nostalgia in all listeners to make the album a success.
