Month: March 2023

I remember turning 20. I was a sophomore in college building the website that would, in many ways, define the next two decades of my life. It was 2003. And while countless albums from those years left a mark on me, it’s often Fall Out Boy’s blue painted ‘Take This To Your Grave’ I think about the most. They blow up. My website blows up. And so begins a two-decade ride of following this band’s career. And it’s over these years that I find myself intertwined with the songs. Each album holds a special place in my memory for where I was when I first heard it, who I was with, and the person I was, even if that wasn’t the person I wanted to be. Those early albums became the soundtrack to my stumbling twenties. And when I turned 30 in 2013 I wrote about the band’s rebirth in a way that looking back was not so subtly partially autobiographical. So, it’s only fitting that I turn 40 a week before the band releases another album. In many ways, the perfect cosmic bow tie of coincidence. In others, the exact music I need to hear as I’m evaluating the person I am now, the life I lead, and the future ahead of me. Ever since I first listened to those early demos, there’s been something about how Patrick thinks about music that aligns almost identically with what my brain craves. The way he crafts melodies, uses syncopation, starts, stops, speeds up, and builds songs has been soul candy since the beginning. And it’s why from the moment I first hit play on their new one a few weeks ago I’ve had a massive smile on my face just thinking about the songs and what they created. It’s an album that wears obvious influence from each era of the band. And it culminates in arguably the band’s most cohesive and ambitious album since ‘Folie.’ I grew up listening to Fall Out Boy. If there’s a band that can define where I came from to where I am today it’s hard not to think of this one. And at the precipice of middle age, of no longer being able even half to pretend I’m not an adult, I find comfort in turning to this old friend once again. A boy on a couch with headphones, typing away about the music that moves him. I am, as I ever was, me. God damn, what a band. God damn, what an album.

Jason Tate Photo Blog

Review: Fall Out Boy – So Much (For) Stardust

Adam Grundy

There’s something to be said for the ability to come full circle to where it all began. Fall Out Boy have returned with their eighth studio album, So Much (for) Stardust, on the label that started the entire hype train, Fueled By Ramen. From being the band that arguably got their biggest break from a “You Hear It First” MTV vignette that showcased the band’s raucous live shows and built up the anticipation for their Take This To Your Grave album. The rest was history, as the band would reach atmospheric success on their major label debut From Under The Cork Tree, which would go on to sell over two million copies in the U.S. alone. The funny thing about the “reinvention years,” or the post-hiatus albums that came after Folie à Deux, is that this new record is the perfect balance between the two “versions” of Fall Out Boy. It has the charm of the early albums, paired with the studio experimentation of the post-hiatus LPs, all honed into a crisp delivery courtesy of veteran producer Neal Avron. From the homage of getting their “elder-emo status” on the music video for “Love From The Other Side,” to the most recent single being the most logical progression from “This Ain’t A Scene…” to now. So Much (for) Stardust achieves the near-impossible: it satisfies both longtime fans and FOB-newbies into a crowd-pleasing package of songs that tug on the heartstrings of emo kids everywhere.

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Animal Sun – “Horror Show” (Video Premiere)

Animal Sun
Adam Grundy

Today is a great day to share the latest single and music video from Animal Sun called “Horror Show.” On this song that fits somewhere between the stylings of the early Killers paired with Payale Royale, Animal Sun make their mark on the Alternative Rock scene. Lead vocalist Steven Blake shared:

”Horror Show: describes the inner workings of our darkest thoughts that grow so deep they almost become like a toxic romantic partner. This ‘entity’ whispers perversions devisiously in our ears, warping reality and everything we once knew into nothing more than a living hell, a ‘Horror Show’ if you may. We deem it more appropriate to laugh through it all. There’s no fighting it anyway.”

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Liner Notes (March 25th, 2023)

Stars
Jason Tate

This week I write about turning forty and the new Fall Out Boy album. There are some other thoughts on new music I checked out this week as well, but it’s mostly about growing up with a band and how their music has punctuated some of the most important moments in my life. Yep, I like Fall Out Boy. Surprise. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

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