Fall Out Boy

This year Fall Out Boy released the gold selling album ‘From Under The Cork Tree’ and seem to be going from strength to strength, widening their fan base by the day with their awesome Pop Punk/Emo crossover music. This single should take the UK by storm on release and will no doubt do extremely well – it is a magnificent song and is definitely something that a UK audience will enjoy.

Fall Out Boy, with ‘Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down’ combine Pop Punks powerful guitar hooks with Emo’s heartfelt melodies and in doing so have created an anthemic song which will no doubt become a classic. This song really is the epitome of Pop Punk, Emo crossover, and with it Fall Out Boy truly are verging on perfection. Rolling Stone magazine naked them in their “10 Artists to Watch” list and I think that they’ve really got a good point there – you better watch out for Fall Out Boy because sooner or later this band are really going to explode.

Label: Mercury
Release Date: September 5th 2005

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Fall Out Boy’s last full length release was ‘Take This To Your Grave,’ and although a lot of people liked this album – I was definitely not one to be considered a fan. This album sees the band develop and mature into something far greater than they were back then, and in developing and maturing their sound, Fall Out Boy have produced a truly incredible album. The other day I reviewed a 5 track sampler of the album, in which I said that if that was anything to judge by then their album was to be truly something special. It really is something special and I am glad to have gotten hold of a copy before its release this coming Monday.

There are 13 tracks on display on this new album and not a single one of them disappoints. I had a feeling that the label may have put all the good material on the sampler and then the album was going to have 5 good tracks, with a load of average ones. This is definitely not the case and in ‘From Under The Cork Tree’ the band have produced a truly fine album worthy of being in anyone’s CD collection. Seriously, whatever type of music you’re predominantly into – I swear that you will find enjoyment in this Fall Out Boy album, it really it a fine piece of work.

My favourites on this CD are probably ‘Dance, Dance,’ ‘7 Minutes In heaven,’ ‘Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner,’ and the almighty ‘Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying.’ These are all great tracks and show off perfectly the fine skills that Fall Out Boy have to offer. There is never a dull moment on this album, but I just feel that these 4 tracks in particular really do convey the fun and enthusiasm that Fall Out Boy ooze seemingly with ease. The tracks have awesome vocals with great lyrics, strong guitar riffs, quality bass lines, and some superb drum work. Fall Out Boy, on this album have written some of the catchiest songs that I have ever heard in my life and I for one love it.

If you are into your Pop Punk or your Post-Hardcore, and haven’t yet checked this band out (god forbid) then make sure you check these guys out as they fuse the two perfectly and in doing so have created a truly immense album. I can see Fall Out Boy being around for some time to come yet with their fun, upbeat and frantic Pop Punk anthems.

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I wasn’t expecting much from this CD to be honest, after their last album ‘Take This To Your Grave’ failed to push all the right buttons for me. I thought the last album was way too predictable, with every song suffering from sound alike syndrome, however from what I can make of the 5 tracks that I have here (this is an album sampler) the new album really will be something special.

Stand out tracks here are definitely the amazing ‘Dance, Dance,’ and the superb ‘Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying,’ however having said this there is never a dull moment on this CD. The band definitely seems to have seen the error of their ways and in doing so have come back with a blinding effort. On this CD, Fall Out Boy seem to effortlessly blend Post Hardcore with Pop Punk and come out trumps every time. There is never a dull moment here, with every track as catchy and memorable as the last. I never would have expected this from this band, but they definitely seem to have done it and produced a blinder of a CD. The tracks here are intelligently written with great musicianship, and lyrics that you’ll be singing for months, maybe even years to come. Every track has a killer chorus that will have you hooked right till the last second, when the song will disappoint you by coming to an end.

I really hope the band can sell a lot of copies of this album as they are far greater than most of the bands out there doing the whole Post Hardcore/Pop Punk thing. Fall Out Boy really are in a league of their own with their original and catchy Punk anthems. The new material will surely go down a treat with the fans of the Warped Tour – it really is incredibly catchy and accessible. The first single to be released from this album will be ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’ so make sure you go out and buy it when it emerges – it is a cracking little number. Hopefully Fall Out Boy will be heading over to these shores before long.

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Fall To Fiction are a Emo/Post Hardcore band from around Kent and Sussex, and can often be seen frequenting the Tunbridge Wells Forum and other such local venues. They are still a young band, and are probably one of the most talented bands around this area at the moment. The band says that they combine a mixture of post hardcore ear piercing screams, with emotional breaks, and add to that a sprinkling of pop punk. I’d probably agree with that – the only problem with this is that by saying this of them you will probably get the wrong idea and that may mean some of you will automatically decide not to listen to them. I really don’t like a lot of Emo/Post Hardcore – the vast majority of it sounds the same and there are a lot of bands out there trying to ride on the success of others by producing generic, sound alike tripe. It really doesn’t work like that – you have far more chance of getting noticed if you’re doing it a bit different thus making your performance that extra bit special. Fall To Fiction do that, and as a result in ‘Wings Lay Shattered’ they have produced a fine CD made up of five cracking songs.

The CD opens off with a cracking track in ‘Ruby Red’ and really sets the pace for the rest of the EP. In this track the band show off some fine vocals with strong melody, cracking guitar riffs, some truly inspirational bass lines, and some superb drum beats. They carry this through and show signs of excellence on each and every single one of the tracks on display on this EP. I particularly like from this EP the fourth track ‘Simple minds, Simple hearts.’ It has a really strong intro and maintains great momentum and power throughout the song making way for a very interesting and exciting listen. The vocals on this track sound amazing with the guitars seemingly done to perfection, and drums proving the ultimate backbeat for a truly classic tune. I really love this track – it just sounds so silky smooth with the band having an aura of true finesse about them.

Fall To Fiction really are coming on in leaps and bounds and if this EP is anything to go by then before long this band should be huge. They really do have a great talent for penning a fine tune and each and every one of them is obviously an extremely talented musician with a very bright future ahead of them. Not only is the bands music great, but lyrically they are also amazing and really show signs of great maturity in their song writing for their age. I strongly urge you to check this band out live if you get an opportunity as I can pretty much guarantee that you’d have a great time and they wouldn’t disappoint.

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This CD has a UK release on Sorepoint Records on the 8th of March. In America it was given a release by Fueled By Ramen and shifted over 40 000 copies over there so if all goes well then they should do fairly well over here as well. I am guessing that they will get played on Scuzz a fair bit as they are I guess what’s trendy at the moment – Post-Hardcore with Pop Punk twinges. If you are in to this sort of thing then I would say that it is probably of quite a high standard as it is not just the average sort of thing you’d here, they obviously have a fair bit of talent at what they do and as a result manage to pull this style off to a certain extent. I am not a fan of the genre but would not go as far as saying that this band are poor, as quite obviously they are not.

There are 12 tracks on display here, it starts off well with a few interesting little numbers but I just feel that this album does not really stand the test of time. By the end of the CD you are left wondering where one track ends and the next begins, they just all seem to blend together into one big mess which is a shame as they really do start off quite well. ‘Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy’ I have to admit is an amazing song with pop sensibilities, a distinct bite, and some great lyrics. It has some amazing bass lines, a crunching guitar riff, some swift drumming, and perfect drumming. I wouldn’t be surprised if they chose it as their first single as it is harmless and chart friendly with enough bite to attract the Rock audience as well as the single buying majority. However, in track 4, ‘Saturday’ it all seems to go a bit pear shaped as it starts off sounding like The Ataris and ends up sounding like a Finch record, it is truly bizarre.

So, although Fall Out Boy do obviously have a fair bit of talent, this release just seems to drone on and a decent band is spoiled by a lack of ideas in the song writing department with many a song sounding exactly the same. If you are a devoted fan of the sort of thing that Drive Thru Records are producing right now then you will be in for a treat with this album from Fall Out Boy.

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