"This isn't a reunion because we never broke up."
On Monday morning, after weeks of denying reunion rumors, pop-punk band Fall Out Boy announced its return to the music scene. After a three-year, self-described "indefinite hiatus" (members declared they were on a "break" in Nov. 2009), the band released a spring tour schedule, a new single and declared an album will come out on the 10th anniversary of its 2003 debut album, Take This to Your Grave.
Since the 2009 break, rumors had swelled about the group's possible return because, according to members, they never really broke up. On Jan. 25, PropertyOfZack - a music blog that has followed Fall Out Boy and other pop-punk groups since 2009 - published a post that said several "trusted sources" had confirmed the return.
Bassist Pete Wentz quickly denied the rumors, saying, "Don't hold your breath that it's happening ... I'm not the person that can help you out. All I know is it's not," to The Chicago Tribune on Feb. 2. Yet, fans were still not convinced and continued to spread word and suspicions when a DirectTV listing confirmed this past weekend that the group will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Feb. 13.
Many have posed the question: is Fall Out Boy still relevant now in 2013?
The answer, quite simply, is yes. Relevant enough to sell out two "secret shows" in less than a day - one in the band's hometown of Chicago on Feb. 4 and another in New York City on Feb. 5. Upcoming dates are sure to sell out, too.
My 13-year-old self could not be happier or more excited.
In 2005, Fall Out Boy was the first group I saw in concert. I remember sitting next to my 10-year-old sister and my best friend feeling as if I was a part of some big family. "Chicago is so Two Years Ago" was my first ringtone on my flip phone that same year. To say the reason I'm into music beyond the radio airwaves is because of this band is an understatement. The members, who were still kids themselves in 2005, showed me a world that I didn't know existed.
Fall Out Boy formed in 2001 in a Chicago, Ill., suburb when Wentz and guitarist Joe Trohman wanted to emulate the bands they had grown up with - think Green Day, the Descendents and The Smiths. They quickly picked up frontman Patrick Stump, a reserved drummer who turned out to have an impressive vocal range, and drummer Andy Hurley.
They released their first full-length album, Take This to Your Grave, in 2003 and quickly followed up with From Under the Cork Tree in 2005. With the second release, the group hit the Billboard Pop Top 100 with "Sugar, We're Going Down," which peaked at No. 8 on the list.
The group released two more studio albums - Infinity on High in 2007 and Folie ? Deux in 2008 - and completed a final Believers Never Die tour before announcing the hiatus in 2009, citing a need to "decompress," much to faithful fans' dismay and shock.
Over the past three years, each member has been involved in different side projects. Trohman and Hurley teamed up with Keith Buckley and Josh Newton from Every Time I Die and Rob Caggiano of Anthrax to form a heavy-metal supergroup, The Damned Things. Stump released a solo album, Soul Punk, which he self-produced and played all instruments. Wentz formed a ska/electropop band, Black Cards, and spent a lot of time as a spokesperson for UNICEF.
Now that Fall Out Boy is back, fans can rest easy and stop questioning when the group will return.
The new single, "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)," dropped on Monday with the reunion and features rapper 2 Chainz - a sign that this time around, the group is straying from its 2003 roots. A photo of the group released with the announcement featured the boys throwing their old records on a bonfire.
Expect something new, expect something different but still expect the same guys who started a band for one reason: to make music that mattered to them.
Fall Out Boy's fifth album, Save Rock and Roll will be available on May 7 and the subsequent tour begins on May 14 in Milwaukee.
There's a light on in Chicago and I know I should be home.
Email: rebecca.bratek@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Mhdariby / Wikimedia Commons
