Pop-punk band makes comeback in new album
Don’t call it a reunion or a comeback because, according to the boys of the band, they never broke up.
After an “indefinite hiatus” that began in 2009, Fall Out Boy, the Chicago pop-punk quartet best known for hits like “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” and
“Thnks fr th Mmrs,” is back. The band, made up of bassist Pete Wentz, singer Patrick Stump, drummer Andy Hurley and guitarist Joe Trohman, announced Monday they have recorded a new album, titled “Save Rock and Roll,” which will be released worldwide in early May. The album release date marks the 10-year anniversary of the group’s first full-length album, “Take This to Your Grave.”
Fall Out Boy’s return to the world of music includes a heavy social media push, with the band joining Tumblr with the URL fobhiatusisover.tumblr.com, a frequently updated Twitter account where the band broke the announcement in fewer than 140 characters by saying “the future of fall out boy starts now” and Facebook posts with shout-outs to international fans and photos from this week’s hometown show in Illinois.
The biggest news of all, though, is that Fall Out Boy put out its newest single right away. When most bands return from a hiatus, the announcement is simply that they will begin recording. But FOB’s album is hitting the shelves soon, so the guys have been working together — writing, rehearsing, recording — for possibly as long as a full year.
The band’s new track, “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up),” was simultaneously released through Tumblr and Facebook with an accompanying video on the group’s YouTube channel. The song is available for purchase on iTunes for $1.29 and has already reached the top spot, surpassing artists like Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars.
The new single is quite the earworm, and the catchy chorus is hard to get out of your head. The tune blends many of FOB’s more successful elements to create a sound that’s new for the band. Heavily influenced by hip-hop and classic rock, “My Songs” combines the thumping beat of a rap song (rapper 2 Chainz is in the video, and the song is called the "2 Chainz Edition") with a screechy wail on the hook by Stump (the lyrics and style of “I’m on fire” sound as if it’d fit in just as well in a Van Halen or Motley Crue track).
Fans can pre-order “Save Rock and Roll” now on the band’s website falloutboyrock.com.
Fall Out Boy will also be hitting the road this summer with stops in Charlotte, N.C., on June 1 and Atlanta on June 2.