A “hot nightmare” of wonderful chaos
While the much-loved pop rock band’s hiatus lasted only a (relatively) short four years, it seems like they’ve been making up for lost time since they came back together in 2013. Since then, they’ve released two successful albums – both of which I’ve greatly enjoyed (though Save Rock and Roll more than American Beauty/American Pyscho, perhaps).
Already though, Fall Out Boy are working on their next studio album, Mania (stylized ‘M A N I A’), with the first song dropping on YouTube last Thursday.
Before I review Young And Menace, I’ll be upfront with you and tell you that I like Fall Out Boy. I’m in the perfect age group to have enjoyed their Infinity On High album during my early, angsty adolescence. Then, I considered songs like I’m Like A Lawyer With The Way I’m Trying To Get You Off (Me & You) to be the height of emotional depth (that video though). But actually the underlying themes of not quite fitting in, woven throughout the entire FOB catalogue, is something easily recognised but not easily expressed by youngsters – particularly in my neck of the woods.
There was always a sincerity that bled through even the more pop-y songs, coupled with a certain dramaticism and theatricality, that always grabbed me. This certainly continues to the case in Young And Menace.
The track, which was described as “chaotic” in a recent Rock Sound interview with Pete Wentz, again picks up on the idea of identity and belonging – particularly for the same sort of kids who would have identified with Infinity On High, now living in a time of harsher, populist politics.
The song is musically abrasive, quickly pivoting from quiet reflection to extreme outbursts. The chorus more closely resembles industrial EDM, yet with the band’s rock background evident in the fact that all the loud, manic, clashing instruments were recorded live – albeit wildly modulated.
I’ve played the song to a couple of people now, all of which have initially pulled back from it. Young And Menace certainly demands attention, and there’s a chaos to it which a lot of people would flinch from.
There are others though, like myself, that would lean into it. The song is loud, aggressive, and even somewhat stress-inducing, but those outbursts capture something that would be hard to put into standard lyrics. There are some things – particularly in youth – that are just more authentically expressed by a scream. It’s brash and harsh, but I it has to be so in a much harsher climate. As Wentz put it:
“You don’t all fit in with each other, but you’re at least inclusive and open to the idea of including other people that don’t fit in. I think there’s a nostalgic element to that with both the video and the song. I think about it with kids today – the world can be really, really, really harsh, and I hope people find some way to navigate that.”
I think the difference between someone who would flinch and someone who you lean into this song is their relation to that sentiment.
We’ll have to wait until September to see how Young And Menace fits into the wider Mania album, but it sets the tone for a wilder, more current, and relevant record.