Fans won't find folly with Fall Out's Folie a Deux

01/30/09 - Fall Out Boy is usually the target of a lot of criticism by "serious" music fans. It is an easy group to bash, due in part to its huge success and its songs' heavy rotation. With success comes a certain amount of backlash.Then there is bassist Pete Wentz's apparent lack of musical talent and the various antics that allow him to be featured prominently on the E! news ticker.

All this seems to make most people either strongly for or against the band. Fall Out Boy is a solid pop-punk ensemble and they should not be this divisive of a band. It's okay to like Fall Out Boy and it's okay to dislike them, but everyone should probably calm down about them.

Trying to dive into its new album, Folie a Duex, without any preconceived notions will likely allow most rock fans to enjoy themselves.

Folie a Duex is an enjoyable album to listen to and a surprisingly deep one. The songs here feature the catchy choruses that Fall Out Boy is known for and most of the songs have some lyrics that will stick in your head for a long while.

The tracks "I Don't Care", "America's Suitehearts" and "20 Dollar Nose Bleed" are among the most infectious.

The depth of the album comes from the fact the album is littered with a huge amount of pop culture references, both in the song titles and the music itself.

The song title for "Coffee's for Closers" is lifted from a line from the film Glengary Glen Ross.

"Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet" is a thinly veiled reference to former major league baseball player Pete Rose, who was banned from Cooperstown and the MLB for his gambling on baseball.

"Disloyal Order of the Water Buffaloes" is a reference to the Flintstones; diehard fans will remember that Fred and Barney were members of the Loyal Order of the water Buffalo.

The game of spot-the-pop- culture reference is certainly fun and extends to the music. The opening of "Coffee's for Closers" is reminiscent of a Smashing Pumpkins' song that I can't put my finger on- possibly "Tonight, Tonight."

The singing of lyrics from a number of earlier Fall Out Boy hits like "Sugar we're Going Down" by a few guest vocalists at the end of "What a Catch Donnie" is a sly reference to the Beatles singing part of "She Loves Me" at the end of "All You Need is Love."

Parts like those provide little moments of being in on the joke. It's kind of like reading something by Bill Simmons or Chuck Klosterman: if you get the references, the whole thing is made much more enjoyable.

However, the pop culture literacy displayed by Fall Out Boy may not be enough to make up some of the flaws that are inherent in all of their work, including this album.

In fact, the pop culture references can be seen as a problem, as they do seem to replace what would be considered actual depth, especially in the lyrics.

The lyrics, penned mostly by Wentz, are filled with clichés when they aren't pop culture references.

There are also things that are present in all of Fall Out Boy's work, not just this album, that are deal breakers for some listeners. The guitar riffs are mostly simple and there won't be any virtuoso soloing to be found.

And of course, Stump's voice is a source of complaint for many detractors of Fall Out Boy. However, I think Stump sounds better here than he did previously, as he refrains from the hardcore style screaming and he thankfully doesn't mumble as much.