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Falling Into Fall Out Boy's 'Folie A Deux'
by Larson Hill
Before I get to Fall Out Boy's latest release, Folie A Deux, I have to ask... What the hell is pop/punk anyway? I mean, if there was ever an oxymoron in the music world it's pop/punk in every way, shape and form. What the genre means today is a far cry from what hardcore punkers of the late '70s and '80s would have thought if you tried to force The Sex Pistols and Debbie Gibson together for an album. To me pop/punk conjures up images of a pop band wanting so desperately to be punk but can't be because... well, they're pop. It's like a suburban kid wanting so desperately to be a hardcore inner city gangsta. But given the evolution of punk, rock and alternative that fits in line with more of a mainstream sound, you can look at The Clash as a good example of some form of punk appeal to a mass audience. That's where the transition began. However, since Fall Out Boy covers Michael Jackson's "Beat It", which is available on the Limited Edition CD of Folie A Deux, it's impossible to say they're anything but pop, punk and alternative rock thrown in to balance the their identity. If anything after checking out Folie A Deaux, Fall Out Boy feels like they've landed somewhere between the maturity of the Foo Fighters and the more mainstream tracks of Green Day.
 Given the fact that punk/pop actually does exist and Fall Out Boy's sound has transitioned from album to album, Folie A Deux is a cohesive release that draws inspiration from many alternative greats that finally establishes their own mainstream yet just-left-of-center-enough sound. The fact is that if you're too punk, you don't get airplay. However, if it's got a poppy beat and you can dance to it, you're on the mainstream map. But the transition of traditional punk to pop/punk is punctuated in the first song on the album, "Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes", which sounds alternatively rebellious and cool, but contains such lyrics as "... nobody wants to hear you sing about tragedy." It makes me wonder if bucking the establishment now means bucking the harsher realities of life in favor of escapism rather than true conviction. Punk has never been pretty, but pop has always been happy and fun, and that's exactly the tone that "Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes" sets for Folie A Deux. Still, there is a certain anti-establishment tone with the band that coincides with their "Citizens For Our Betterment" campaign for the release, which no one would argue isn't anything but good.
The band's recent single, "I Don't Care", is upbeat alternative rock tailor made for the #1 slot on the charts. Although I may sound a bit jaded from the whole so-called pop/punk thing, I actually like Folie A Deux. In an emo music scene filled with rockers who only think they have balls and a spine, Fall Out Boy's latest has a solid backbone. Interestingly enough, the subtext underneath "I Don't Care" speaks to the many self absorbed people who you run into on a daily basis who are so obsessed with the shallowness of pop culture, people who often deserve the response of the title. It's pop rock that everyone will be able to relate to on some level (even those Pete Wentz is singing about). Although it's also much about not allowing other people's superficial sh*t to affect your happiness, it does have a strong message that leaves a lasting (and catchy) impact that loops over and again in the mind during the run of a day.
 And while Fall Out Boy sounds like they've come of age on Folie A Deux, with a tight consistency and polished maturity from start to finish, there seems to be a few identity issues at play under the surface within the lyrics, ones that many alternative bands have had to work out once they've hit it big. One of the better mainstream tracks on the album, "She's My Winona", which is almost guaranteed to at least reach the top five of the charts, reflects how the band has grown up and matured not only as adults but, for Wentz, new parents as well. It's a great track, written with an admirable honesty and passion for their growth as adults. But there's also a side of the song that doesn't quite gel with the lyrics, "We didn't come to compete. This is all demonstration. Even the young ones. We come around I'll bet they always bring up how you changed."
I get it, and it reflects a level of self-assurance, but what did they come to do? Just hang around and not make any money? Is the demonstration simply to show their fans, friends, and family that they can make good music, or is it to sell millions of records, have hit singles, and be one of the premiere bands on the scene today? The reality is in today's music scene, to find the type of success Fall Out Boy is enjoying with Folie A Deux most bands have to change in order to appeal to the masses. If you started out with a mainstream sound ready for radio play, well, that's different. Has Fall Out Boy changed since they broke out with From Under the Cork Tree and then Infinity on High? Of course they have. You don't go from Indie to major label without changes, and that's not a bad thing.
 But the reason why you didn't hear a lot of The Ramones on the radio in their heyday is because they didn't change their sound, and to a large degree didn't sell nearly the amount of albums that you may think. The Ramones did have commercial songs, but they "truly" didn't come to compete on the charts. I'm not saying what's right or wrong, either. Whether Fall Out Boy likes it or not, there's competition at the top of the charts. It just comes with the territory. In a lot of cases, you can find the bands who don't come to compete playing Fall Out Boy covers at your local club. I know the Pat Stump, Pete Wentz, Andy Hurley, and Joe Trohman are doing it for the music (what band isn't?), but it's hard to believe they didn't want to be a successful band (ie: compete) with hit singles and albums, especially with the radio friendly potential of Folie A Deux. To not compete would be to not make radio friendly tunes. And with Neal Avron and Pharrell producing the album, and guest appearances by Elvis Costello, Lil Wayne, Debbie Harry, Travis McCoy, and Brendon Urie, it's obvious the intent was for Folie A Deux to compete. Still, I also know what the intent was behind the "didn't come to compete" lyric, too, but it's just something that needs a bit more perspective.
As for the other ten tracks on the album, namely the clever "Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown" featuring Elvis Costello about baseball legend Pete Rose, "Dance Dance" with Panic at the Disco's Brendan Urie, and "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", Folie A Deux is another great step in fall Out Boy's evolution. Although I have issues with the whole pop/punk tag, at least Fall Out Boy has something to say within the pop underneath the punk. Although they're a reflection of the lighter punk that has emerged out of the emo scene, Folie A Deux is a strong, consistent, and well-rounded release that only enhances the band's sound and image. If you were expecting the boys to fall, they didn't with Folie A Deux.
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