Fall Out Boy--Our Lawyer Made Us Change the Name of This Book So We Wouldn't Get Sued by Ben Welch

Author:Ben Welch [Ben Welch]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786063212
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

FROM HERE TO INFINITY

As the autumn of 2006 rolled around the band put the finishing touches to the new record, and gave fans their first taste of it by leaking one of their own tracks to AbsolutePunk. Island confirmed the track would feature on the record whilst denying any knowledge of the leak, and the track, entitled ‘Carpal Tunnel of Love’, became a minor hit for the band when finally made available on iTunes – despite not being an official single release. When it comes to the game of promotion, Fall Out Boy were turning into Grand Masters. The new album had been announced as Infinity On High, and anticipation was at fever pitch.

‘The Carpal Tunnel of Love’ was a comforting taste of the Fall Out Boy that fans had come to know and love, pivoting between the tension of a highly-strung verse and an undeniably pretty chorus, with Stump’s commanding vocal leading from the front. But the first official single from the album was about to test fan loyalty. ‘This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race’ had a suitable head scratcher of a title, but it slithers in on a serpentine guitar line and a processed drum beat, with Stump flexing his vocal abilities shamelessly – embellishing phrases, layering falsetto harmonies and diving down into the depths of his range before pouncing back up. It’s funky and sexed up, a million miles from the heartbroken confessions of Take This To Your Grave, even with the big rock chorus that rides a wave of distorted guitars while Hurley delivers his typically pounding, metronomic backing. It certainly represented something of a challenge to the audience; this was Fall Out Boy growing and developing, and they would have to rise to the occasion. But it was selected as a first single because it had the right message. It’s a song that criticises, as Stump explained to Al D TV, ‘fast food music’, music that you can digest easily and purge in a day. But it cleverly borrows the tropes of disposable pop whilst parodying it, like the gang-chanted final breakdown, accompanied by oh-so-organic handclaps inspired by Justin Timberlake’s ‘Señorita’.

If listeners weren’t getting the message from the words alone, then the music video offered the perfect accompaniment. Once again directed by Alan Ferguson, it’s one of the best rock videos of the twenty-first century, skewering the artifice of the fame and glamour-obsessed music industry. It opens where the ‘Dance, Dance’ video closes, but we see just outside the frame of the video the cameras and lights mocking up this cute suburban love story for our enjoyment. We bought the lie of the Fall Out Boys next door, and Pete is exiting in a Lamborghini he purchased with the proceeds of the sale. Next we see them in the studio with a ‘hip-hop super producer’, but they aren’t welcome and are duly ‘kicked out of the hood’ with nothing but bloody noses to show for it. Elsewhere there’s plenty of retreading of

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.