Pete Wentz's Fall Out Boy is a popular American rock band formed by Wentz and Patrick Stump as a pop-punk side project that have since gone on to set the pace for the pop-punk culture.
The band which consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, drummer Andy Hurley, and lead guitarist Joe Trohman, released their debut album, Take This to Your Grave in 2003.
The release of the album earned them a small but dedicated fan base and the album is currently cited as on of the most influential pop-punk music in the 2000s.
In April 2005, The fall out boys took the pop-punk music to another level inspiring generations with the release of their second album From under the cork tree.’ The album got world wide recognition due to the music video of ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’, which was the the hit song taken from the album.
The weird music video of the song showed a love story between an outcast boy and local girl, which might sound pretty clichéd – except that in this video the boy is shunned by the local community because he has antlers (which he tries to remove with pruning shears). When his love interest’s father discovers the young couple are getting close, he tries to shoot him with an arrow, only to be hit by a car – when it’s revealed her dear old dad has hooves. TIt’s mad shit.
This song exposed the band to thousands of new fans, inspiring new pop-punk artists including Cody Carson, the frontman of Floridian rock band Set It Off.
In an interview with NME Cody spoke about how he got inspired to go into pop-punk by watching sugar.
He stated: I saw Fall Out Boy perform ‘Sugar…’ on MTV and I was blown away. I remember [Fall Out Boy guitarist] Joe Trohman did this backwards guitar spin move, and I was like: ‘This is my new favourite band; I need this album’. I went straight out to get it and fell absolutely head-over-heels for the entire record.
Carson credits this album with helping him learn how to write music: I would learn how to play their songs, and I would just try to listen to their song structure like, ‘Why’d they do this here? Why is this chord progression like this?’. Carson credits Wentz as co. as trailblazers who readied the mainstream for a whole movement of pop-punk and emo bands.
Fall Out Boy have consistently kicked down the door, he explains. With 'From Under the Cork Tree' they allowed other bands to open their eyes and their minds to the ability to create some really pop-centric melodies over something really rocky or energetic and intense. They found this really cool balance between those worlds.
Now over a decade after the release of Sugar, the Fall out boys have released another album 'So Much (for) Stardust' getting fans all riled up as the pop-punk kings are back.
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Speaking on CBC in a joint interview, Stump and Wentz talked about how they feels about the new album release.
Stump stated: I think the expectations are tremendously different. It's funny because this year also happens to coincide with 20 years of Take This to Your Grave, which is our first album. It was one of those things where it was like, 'I just want to see where this goes. I'm having a blast, but this will probably be over any minute.' And this time you have history to think about…. It's weird because I think it kind of forces you to consciously think about legacy and how a record sits with your body of work and all that.
With the current pop-punk revival, artists who weren't even born when Fall Out Boy released its debut record are now taking inspiration from the band. Wentz shared his thoughts on Fall Out Boy's influence and legacy.
According to the rock band star when he sees big stars like Machine Gun Kelly, Olivia Rodrigo, and Lil Uzi taking inspiration from the pop-punk genre it makes him very happy and he is always proud to see what he has influenced over the years. Adding that he was lucky to be part of such a huge cycle.
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