Long Live the Car Crash Hearts

Of all the pseudo-punk bands that have flooded the airwaves, Fall Out Boy were by far the band the sucked the least. Part of it could be that the band seems not to take themselves as seriously as their peers and their songs like Sugar, We’re Going Down and Dance, Dance weren’t dragged down by teen angst but were upbeat and sing-a-long staples while driving two years ago. Well they would have been if you could understand what singer Patrick Stump was saying so you had to make up your own lyrics sometimes. But if there were a Jump the Shark moment for music, it would definitely be the Thriller rip-off video for the song that would double the length of this post if I typed it. Since then the band lost even more of its thunder as rip of bands like Panic! at the Disco has gotten as much, if not more recognition and somehow even longer song titles.

Now the band is back to answer if a sophomore slump can pertain to a band’s fourth album Infinity on High. Just from looking at the track list you can tell it is still the same Fall Out Boy with their titles that range from lengthy (I’m Like a Lawyer with the Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me + You)) to tounge in cheek (The Carple Tunnel of Love) and could possibly be the first band to have a less than sign in a song title with Fame (Less Than) Infamy. The album for some reason starts off with Jay-Z. No he isn’t rapping, just thanking all the fans, which really just happers the opeing track, Thiller (no not a Michael Jackson cover).

Jay-Z isn’t the only unexpected guest on the album as Babyface helms the production and plays some instruments on a few songs on the album. And there in lies the biggest problem with the album, much like a band that bassist Pete Wentz doesn’t care too much for, The Killer, Fall Out Boy tries too hard to push the boundaries but falls flat doing so. This is most apparent on I’m a Lawyer…, one of Babyface’s songs, where the band goes way too far into the easy listening genre with paint by numbers melody. Same with The (After) Life of the Party which sounds like something off the soundtrack of a lost John Hughes movie. On the other end of the spectrum, The Carpel Tunnel of Love inexplicably features a scream-core ending.

One of the few places where the band goes out of their comfort zone and excels is on Golden, a striped down song based around primarily a piano. But the band can still is at its best with their cheesy pop songs. And this time the sing-a-long are even more overt like in the first single, This Ain’t a Scene, it’s an Arms Race where they suggest, nee order you to sing along at the end. And it is doubtful that you will just hum along to Hum Hallelujah. But nothing here is as catchy as Sugar, We’re Going Down.

Song to Download - Hum Hallelujah

Infinity on High gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.