FALL OUT BOY
Infinity On High
Island
· Jiminy jilickers! Fall Out Boy is still hard to hate.
When future music historians look back, artifacts such as Fall Out Boy (FOB), Billy Talent and the Josie and The Pussycats movie will inevitably be regarded as the guilty pleasures of the discerning. Too polished (and popular) to ever be considered artful, they instead offer catchy songs, eye/ear candy and the kind of stupid jokes that are almost impossible not to laugh at.
To feel bad about enjoying an album like Infinity on High is an incredibly satisfying experience, almost as if you’ve snuck past the guard and are having fun doing something you shouldn’t. Sure, the cover, liner art and included Tarot cards are atrocious, and the production value is just ridiculous (Jay-Z even introduces the first track), but some of these songs are simply too smart to deny.
When FOB take themselves seriously, they suck (see: "The (After) Life of the Party," "The Carpal Tunnel of Love" and especially the turgid piano ballad "Golden"), but tracks here like "The Take Over, The Break’s Over," "Thanks for the Memories," "Don’t You Know Who I Think I Am?" and "Bang the Doldrums" contain clever lyrics, massive singalong choruses and the inarguable element of straightforward fun. The Leonard Cohen-cribbing "Hum Hallelujah" shouldn’t work (but it does), Patrick Stump is the poor man’s Ted Leo, and this is the band you should have a hard time not loving.
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