Fall Out Boy album channels old sound with new twist

By Andrew Roberts

In Fall Out Boy’s bombastic sixth studio album, “American Beauty/American Psycho,” the band shows an enthusiastic rock sound it adopted in its last album, “Save Rock and Roll”.

“American Beauty/American Psycho” is filled with sweeping production numbers, such as “Centuries,” a track that will stick with you for a while. The punk sound characteristic of earlier Fall Out Boy albums like the wildly popular “Infinity on High” blends well with unique guitar licks, as does the sampling of “The Munsters” theme song in the catchy “Uma Thurman.”

The production is certainly high on every song, which sometimes makes it hard to tell the difference between synthetic sound and the actual instruments, but it allows lead singer Patrick Stump’s voice to shine through. Stump’s vocals are catchy and clever, as in the appropriately named leading song of the album, “Irresistible,” in which he sings “you know you look so Seattle but you feel so L.A.”

The album is fairly consistent, grabbing your attention with “Irresistible” and the title track, “American Beauty/ American Psycho,” but it deflates a bit as you get toward the end, slogging through the ironically titled “Novocaine,” which suffers from overproduction.

The album saves itself with the excellent track “Immortals,” which was featured in Disney’s “Big Hero 6.” The song is excellent for an animated film; it’s filled with cartoonish excitement and positivity that leads into the simple yet wonderfully familiar last song, “Twin Skeleton’s (Hotel in NYC), a track that channels Fall Out Boy’s old emo and punk sound.

“Save Rock and Roll” is the appetizer to the main course that is “American Beauty/American Psycho”, with a little bit of everything for anyone to enjoy.

From funk to jazz to massive ’70s stadium anthems, this album has a lot to offer to those scrambling for an old Fall Out Boy sound and fresh music from a band that has roared back to its place on top of the music charts.