There are tears on my calculus problems from Monday.
And no, they are not tears of anger or frustration from inability to figure out an integral or derive an equation. Rather, they are tears of joy.
That fateful morning, Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz simultaneously tweeted, “falloutboyrock.com”. Nothing more, nothing less. I went to the site and all my wildest dreams came true. A new album “Save Rock and Roll” is 3 months away from its release and the band will be stopping at the Pageant in St. Louis on June 28.
I was in complete and utter shock. I threw my head down and breathed. I checked my pulse and quickly scanned the website once more, making sure this wasn’t another fake reunion bent on dashing my hopes and dreams for the umpteenth time. Then I ran across a statement from bassist Pete Wentz on his website.
“Rock and Roll is an intangible- its an attitude- something that you feel. Fun, Danger, whatever you want to call it. When we started this band- it wasn’t for anything but ourselves- we wanted adventure, play loud music, and do it with our best friends. fast forward to 2013. we wrote some songs we felt we needed to. we feel like we’re back there at the beginning with only adventure and loud music again. We just want to feel real again. Save Rock and Roll is a personal statement for the band as much as anything else- because at the end of the day rock and roll saved us.”
Sure enough, it’s all golden. After three years of solo projects (Of which I got a taste of all three up close at various concerts) the boys are indeed back in town, and with a fire beneath them as they blaze a new trail of music.
Their first single “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)” which was number one on iTunes within 12 hours — is a pulsating anthem that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. In their press release photo seen above, the cover art for the single, and music video featuring 2 Chainz, we see an almost sacrificial burning of the old Fall Out Boy vinyls, CD’s, T-shirts, you name it (2 Chainz even adds a pretty sweet flamethrower to the mix in the music video).
I see the single and its imagery as a sort of “Fahrenheit 451” cleanse, wherein the band is sending a message that we are in the here and now. Whatever they created in the past was perfect in that moment, but there’s a different need now, so the past must be forgotten — and what better way to forget than to light it up like the 4th of July? As Wentz stated on his site:
“Its the best album we’ve ever made. It doesn’t sound like the other FOB albums, but it sounds exactly like fall out boy in 2013.”
Frankly, that’s all I can ask for. As a writer, I know that if I don’t like what I’m doing, or if I’m trying to recreate something that someone else likes, it’s not going to pan out. So although a new and different sound is somewhat of a scary thought, I’m more than content with it as long as it jives with them too.
One thing’s for certain, I will be rocking out at their June 28 concert like there’s no tomorrow. I will probably lose sleep on multiple occasions from now until May 5th when the album drops due to sheer unbridled excitement and anticipation. My heart is on my sleeve, I’ve got a sunset in my veins, and only one thing to say — long live the car crash hearts.
If you had a heart attack of your own or if you’ve got any questions, comments or concerns be sure to send them my way at [email protected] or tweet @thehippestcat.
