Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman is trying to be a happy camper. The band's new album, Folie A Deux, will be out the in mid-December (15 and 16, to be exact), well over a month later than was planned. The timing isn't great, but at least it's this year.
"The record was ready to go a long time ago," Trohman admits. "But we'd made some political connections to it; we even scheduled it for election day. Everything was cool at first, and then it seemed gimmicky. So we asked our label to move the date. We didn't think it'd be so late, but that's the way labels roll."
Given the rapturous response given the first single, I Don't Care, Troham needed worry. A swaggering bit of Spirit In The Sky meets Garry Glitter ("I hear John Lee Hooker," says Trohman), it's the catchiest, most straight-ahead three minutes Fall Out Boy have issued so far.
"We mix the influences in a way that sounds new and complete" Joe Trohman
Since their debut in 2002 with the Split EP and right on through Folie A Deux, Fall Out Boy (which also includes singer-guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist-lyricist Pete Wentz and drummer Andrew Hurley) have made their bones with an uncompromising blend of melodic emo-post punk that features a dash of hardcore and lately, thanks to Stump, a big dollop of R&B.
Influences
"We mix the influences in a way that sounds new and complete," says Trohman. "But they all can't work. For instance, I love heavy metal. But for me to insert Randy Rhoads licks into Fall Out Boy's music, it'd sound crazy. So I hold back, which creates a cool kind of tension. I think casual listeners can pick up on that, even if they're not sure why it's happening."
Listeners will have a lot to wade through on Folie A Deux. Open-hearted church hymns (Lullabye) segue into pounding, dense rockers (Disloyal Order Of Water Buffalos) that give way to melodramatic bits of musical theater pastiche (Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet - there's those long FOB titles again) that move smoothly into R&B-flavored pop-rock (w.a.m.s.). As usual, Trohman puts his gritty, twisty licks in all the right places.
In the podcast below, Joe Trohman speaks about the recording of Folie A Deux and addresses the challenges that face Fall Out Boy. He also talks about his love of heavy metal and a possible side project down the line.
Part one - Fall Out Boy's formation, how they've changed with success, why they use GarageBand
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Part two - Joe talks about album sales, his love of metal and how to play guitar in Fall Out Boy
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