Sugar, We're Goin' Down

By Fall Out Boy

Don't kid yourself skater boy, these guys are a boy band masquerading as US hardcore. OK so you played to a handful of people in someone's basement back in '01, I guess you didn't have the Fall Out Boy Street TeamTM in action then.

Switching up to the majors for last year's sophomore LP "From Under The Cork Tree" (Island), Fall Out Boy have picked up a few pointers from touring with The All-American Rejects. This is unmistakeably the sound of a radio-friendly hit, somewhere between Busted and New Found Glory.

According to an MTV profile the band were unaware that their name, taken from a shouted suggestion at an early show, was a Simpsons reference. Bassist / lyricist Pete Wentz was more inclined toward the work of Jean De Brunhoff a.k.a. Babar the Elephant. Figures.

Internet rumours abound that the band changed the lyrics of the chorus in the album booklet due to commercial pressures. The understandable "loaded gun complex" becomes the mysterious "loaded god complex", a phrase which apparently provokes less outrage to Wal-Mart customers. Punk rock.

• www.falloutboyrock.co.uk

Comments

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On 15th February 2006 at 07:29 Anonymous 2871 wrote...

I like this. So there.
For me, I don't care if they decided to change the lyrics (it was, undoubtebly the labels decision, not their's, and loads of acts have changed their covers for Walmart), it's still a really damn catchy pop punk song. True, in 3 or 4 months time I'm going to forget about it and probably never listen to it again, but for now, I enjoy it.

I did enjoy the review though by the way, it was well argued and felt much less like the kind if knee-jerk this-is-really-popular-and-commercial-so-i-must-hate-it reaction that loads of reviewers have had.
So bravo.