Various Artists (Decaydence Records)
CitizensFOB
B
Release Date: August 24, 2008
This ain't a scene, it's a political enterprise. Get familiar.
Over the past few weeks, pop-punk superstars Fall Out Boy have been leading fans and internet sleuths on a wild goose chase through a maze of cryptic Web sites and political intent sparked by the newly introduced "Citizens for our Betterment" campaign.
As of Monday afternoon, hard work prevailed as FOB bassist Pete Wentz and Company released a rap-influenced mix tape available as a free download.
Entitled CitizensFob Mixtape, the track listing is a solid mix of new FOB demos and other Decaydence Records artists with an overlap from DJ Clinton Sparks.
Furthering the unexplainable rap cred that Pete Wentz has, Ludacris introduces the mix tape and name-drops the forthcoming Election Day release of FOB's fifth full-length album, Folie a Deux. FOB follows with the musical opening of the mix tape, offering two brand new demos, ending the e-madness and quickly giving their fans what they've been searching for.
Sparks introduces the first demo ("ALPHAdog and OMEGAlomaniac") until drummer Andy Hurley fires up a heart-pounding beat. This segues into lead singer Patrick Stump's signature wail, introducing the band's intentions for the release: a musical endorsement of presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
Relating to all true Western New Yorkers, the next track, "Lake Effect Kid," takes the band back to a style similar to the pop sound heard on From Under the Cork Tree with an infectious chorus.
"Boomerang my head back to the city I grew up in, again and again, forever a lake effect kid," sings Stump.
Beyond these opening tracks is a crapshoot with about half of the tracks having been previously released to audiences. Some examples include Gym Class Hero's new single, "Cookie Jar," and the track by The Academy Is..., "About a Girl."
Rapper Tyga has two songs on the mix and both are equally terrible, reminding listeners throughout that he has the rap-letic ability of Aaron Carter, while The Cab's track, "Bounce," feels much like the work of a poor J.C. Chasez knock off.
And yet, the absolute worst songs on the list belong to Paramore-knockoff Hey Monday and Cobra Starship's reworked version of Katy Perry's hit single, "I Kissed A Girl."
Despite all of this smut, readers should not be discouraged. The free release does feature some other diamonds in the rough, such as The Paul Revere Jumpsuit Apparatus (i.e. Panic! At the Disco) song "Nearly Witches," which features the dance-infused music and abstract lyrics fans were hoping from their second release.
"I fell from the heavens as the fetish blessed with an Operatic skeleton/And as the stars watched me descend, I cracked the family tree and chopped off all of the branches," sings Panic!.
The album closes with tracks announcing the bands' universal praise for Obama, beginning with The Hush Sound's "We Believe in Obama." Going along with the song, all four members of FOB plus William Beckett of The Academy Is... and Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship use spoken word messages to preface the overall message of change.
Thanks to the new FOB demo and the Panic!-provided B-side, there's enough enjoyment to warrant a free download. And for those with a political inclination, FOB has released one of the most original rock political mix tapes ever made.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
