Recently, I was discussing pop-punk of the early 2000s with a friend.  As we reminisced about angsty masterpieces like Saves the Day Through Being Cool and Say Anything’s …is a real boy, our conversation shifted to Fall Out Boy.  Yeah, that band. Many people forget their modest beginnings and an excellent 2003 debut called Take This To Your Grave. 

My first experience of Fall Out Boy when they opened for Allister at The Continental in New York City’s East Village in March 2003 (Don’t Look Down was also on the bill). For those who aren’t familiar with The Continental, it is a dive bar on Sixth Avenue that, at one time, hosted bands.  Now they are known for having very cheap shot specials. I once witnessed a bevy of nefarious activities in their sub-terrain bathrooms.

After seeing Fall Out Boy that evening, I bought Take This To Your Grave on the spot.   I remember being very impressed.  I was there for Allister but became excited about discovering a new favorite by accident. It was one of those cardboard cd cases. The liner notes had quite a few spelling mistakes (for example, the song “Chicago is So Two Years Ago” was labeled as “Chicago is So Two Tears Ago”). Very punk rock (for me) in 2003.

The question is: Does the current ethos surrounding Fall Out Boy (how silly their recent albums have been, personal activities of Pete Wentz, Patrick Stump’s weird online rant about how people should feel sorry for him, etc) tarnish Take This To Your Grave, an album I remember quite fondly?

Fall Out Boy formed in the Chicago-area in the early 2000s. Named after the classic Simpsons’ character, the band featured Patrick Stump (vocals/guitar), Pete Wentz (bass), Joe Trohman (guitar), and Andy Hurley (drums). They released a very punky EP called Fall Out Boy’s Evening Out with Your Girlfriend in March 2003 and really hit their stride with Take This to Your Grave (released in May 2003).

Like any good pop-punk album from the early 2000s, Take This to Your Grave included themes of friendship, missing home, exes, betrayal, and hope, all with caustic wit and bitterness.  In this album, Fall Out Boy constructed sincere and accessible songs.  They invite the listener to tap and sing along and feel the same things as the band. Its like these songs challenge you not to sing along.  Everything since then has tried too hard to be interesting.

The album opens up with “Tell Mick That He Made My List of Things to Do This Today,” a powerful jumping off point for the album. It begins with a roaring guitar intro. The lyrics are bitter and the melody is frantic.  There is no shortage of great visual imagery, specifically the image of not sparing one’s bodily fluids to extinguish someone who is engulfed in flames.

“Dead on Arrival”  has one of those classic basement show/tour videos. The band members wink and giggle at the camera and there are shots of audiences singing back each word.  Lyrically, it is a whole extended metaphor but it is slightly shifty in the execution. “This is side one/ flip me over/ I know I’m not your favorite record/ the songs you grow to like never stick at first”  is one of the memorable choruses.

And then there is “Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy.”  This song starts off with talking: “Where is your boy tonight?/ I hope he is a gentleman/ Maybe he won’t find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town.” Then the guitars come in.  There is a signature count-up (“1,2,3,4”). There are moments where someone yells “Yeah!” in the background. There is a pop-punk breakdown. There are the catchy lyrics. As a single, it really sets the stage for the album’s overall sound and theme.