In defense of Fall Out Boy

Fuck you, I'm a fan.

I was disappointed when the album didn't get its original 11/04 release date this year, pushing back the band's fourth disc of original material back to 12/16. And yes, I went over to the store and bought it on the day that it was released.

Because I don't think a band's commercial appeal to any demographic is going to keep me from buying music that I like or supporting them in the dinosaur, relic way that I remember from not that long ago. Hell, when I was in junior high school, I bought LPs still. It wasn't until I was well into my freshman year and finally had a portable CD player that I started picking up discs. That was 19 years ago. (Holy fuck... I'm old.) Look at how times have changed.

Here's the thing that I like about the band. In a world of young punks delving into excess when it comes to their vicodin and Xanax addictions, complaining how they have shit so hard while dating walking STDs like Paris Hilton, and... well, one of the Simpson sisters, you can't really give them a lot of credit as a musical act. In fact, most bands over time that have been initially idolized by a younger crowd are automatically dismissed by the musical elite. Those fanboys of the soundwaves who can quote you lyrics of Zep songs backwards but won't stop to lower themselves to listen to anything that's on the Top 40 radio station.

Whatever. In order to understand the difference between what you think is brilliant and what you think is dogshit, you have to legitimately give both sides equal time. Until you do, leave me the fuck alone and stop your whining.

As a sidenote, I wrote like a dork about buying FOB's last disc Here. I loved that album too.

For example, I found myself listening to this song, "I Don't Care" over and over again, entranced by the cocky yet self deprecating sound of the chubby lead singer who always wears hats (let's face it, the only one anyone of you could actually name without looking up is Pete Wentz). It's a whine of a man who's been tormented and cheated on by a girl, frantically trying to pose and posture as if he's cool with everything, that it's her loss, that he's above it all.

It sounds desperate and it sounds real. Because this is what most men, young and old, wizened and green, sound like at the mercy of a woman who no longer wants them.

"Say my name, and his in the same breath,
I dare you to say they taste the same,
Let the leaves fall off in the summer
And let December glow in flames

Brace myself and let go,
Start it over again in Mexico
These friends, they don't love you
They just love the hotel suites, now

I don't care what you think
As long as it's about me
The best of us can find happiness
In misery

(Chorus repeated)

Oh, take a chance, let your body get a tolerance,
I'm not a chance, but a heat wave in your pants
Pull a breath like another cigarette,
pawn shop, I'm trading up (trading up)

I'm the oracle in my chest,
Let the guitar scream like a fascist,
Sweat it out, shut your mouth,
Free love on the streets, but
In the alley and I ain't that cheap, now

(Chorus repeated)"

Is it lazy or stupid to repeat a chorus over and over? Depends on your opinion. Think about classic Xmas jingles. Think about classic rock songs which had few refrains and an overload of guitar and/or drum solos. Tell me that wasn't just the excessive nature of that particular era.

Fall Out Boy continues to churn out pop music. It's smart pop music because it's fooled the record industry into labeling it unfairly as "emo" even though it mocks itself when it whines and wink-wink, nudge-nudge mocks the others who do it as well. These guys are whining for the sake of pointing out how stupid you sound when you whine. In interviews they all explain about growing up in upper middle class privileged families with no personal disadvantages other than the over prescribing of ADD medication. And your opinions on that are up to you.

"I've got troubled thoughts and the self esteem to match... What a catch.... What a catch..."

Another line moans on. The thing is, all of us, in our moments alone thinking about how deep we feel at that particular time, we've all thought the same thing. That is a line that you can relate you, no matter who you are. It's not a generational thing. It's a commercialistic societal thing.

Or better yet...

"I don't just want to be a footnote in someone else's happiness...."

Good advice. Don't let it happen, recognize it when someone is pulling it on you and express your dissatisfaction with the situation.

I love Fall Out Boy.