Review: Fall Out Boy, "Folie a Deux"

Fall Out Boy

“Folie a Deux”

(Island Def Jam)

I think it’s safe to write off any hope that the FOBs will ever return to their brash pop-punk roots of “Take This to Your Grave.” With each and every album, from the imitable farce “Evening Out with Your Girlfriend” to this new monolith, “Folie a Deux,” Fall Out Boy grows leaps and bounds, which is oftentimes too distracting to suggest any consistency in regards to songwriting.

With this new record, Patrick Stump and company continue on their journey of becoming a larger-than-life pop band; dare I say, the Beatles for the Hot Topic set. This isn’t hyperbole, either; it’s fucking fact. That being said, I believe that I may be too cynical to accept “Folie a Deux” and its aggressive online marketing campaign (see: Citizens For Our Betterment) as anything else but a publicity stunt in the form of a pop record.

The album’s lead single, “I Don’t Care,” is a direct descendent of Rihanna’s “S.O.S.,” which in itself benefited from a well-placed Soft Cell sample. The rest of the record is typical overproduced fanfare and is a natural extension of “Infinity On High.”

If anything, “Folie a Deux,” is pleasurable for fans who discovered the FOBs within the last three years and do not suffer from living life in a sardonic manner. For the rest of us who like to “up the punx,” as it were, we’ll stick to waiting around for a much better Chicago band called the Lawrence Arms.