You Gotta Respect Fall Out Boy’s Commitment To Being A Little Much

Fall Out Boy have always been a lot. God gave singer-guitarist Patrick Stump indestructible musclebound vocal cords that cannot be contained, and he fully indulges their powers. Musically, his songs tend to be big and bold, often dispensing with conventional notions of good taste in their pursuit of stadium-sized glory. As a lyricist, bassist Pete Wentz is similarly over-the-top, prone to gleefully snide and/or horny flights of fancy such as "You wouldn't know a good thing if it came up and slit your throat" and "Can I lie in your bed all day? I'll be your best-kept secret and your biggest mistake." As for their zealously smarmy song titles... quick, guess which of these are authentic early Fall Out Boy compositions and which ones I just came up with:

1. "I've Got A Dark Alley And A Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)"
2. "The Worst Days And The Best Decades Feel Like Hand Grenades, Wouldn't You Say?"
3. "Darling, Keep Quiet And Pass Me The Waffle Fries Before This Shit Gets Serious"
4. "I'm Like A Lawyer With The Way I'm Always Trying to Get You Off (Me & You)"
5. "Word On The Street Is That Amateur Wrote You A Poem, But Babe, You Belong In The Pros"
6. "You've Never Seen Politics Quite Like Scene Politics, Bandito"
7. "I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers"
8. "It's Hard To Say 'I Do,' When I Don't"
9. "Are You Seriously Asking Me That Question Right Now (Please Back Away Slowly)"
10. "I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me"

Oh, to be kings of pop-punk in the time of MySpace! But Fall Out Boy were far hungrier than that -- far thirstier, too -- therefore their career has comprised a series of escalations both craven and respectably ballsy. After 2005 sophomore album From Under The Cork Tree crossed them over from Warped Tour celebrity to A-list pop stardom, they embraced the part. Stump, who has traditionally handled the musical side of the songwriting, began to experiment with sounds far beyond the band's initial punk template. By incorporating whichever trends were ruling the radio and even working with producers like Babyface and Pharrell, Fall Out Boy's music mutated into ever weirder forms without sacrificing their initial intensity. (As we've already established, these guys are nothing if not intense.) They also mingled with the pop scene in more literal ways: Wentz dated and eventually married Ashlee Simpson and took a role as himself on teen drama One Tree Hill, and the band apparently never turned down a photo op with a famous rapper.

But unfortunately this weekend I learned that even a new beard has its limitations.
On Sunday I lost out to the incredible Greg Kurstin.
A big ol beard can only take you so far.
An important lesson learned that i am happy to pass forward to all of you good people.

— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) January 31, 2018

Now my beard is gone, the experiment completed and I can move forward with 2018!
God bless and thank you for your support !!!

— Calvin Harris (@CalvinHarris) January 31, 2018