thedoldrummajor

So, it seems the punk rock/emo gods have heard everyone desperately begging for FOB to do literally anything in the wake of MCR, Paramore, and Pierce the Veil dropping new music and answered with a full page ad in the Chicago tribune. I, for one, am hyped as fuck and also pretty nervous. The Arctic Monkeys, a band I used to love, drifted far enough from their roots with their last two records that I've stopped keeping up with them, and FOB's last record was... definitely experimental. I didn't hate it by any means, but it's weak compared with the rest of their work. The band is clearly still trying to figure out this new hybrid of rock and EDM/dubstep, and MANIA has a lot of flat sounding spots. That and the quality of the lyrics varies pretty drastically from song to song.

But, I have a lot of hope for this new record. For one, Joe Trohman said FOB8 was going to be a guitar album (which is an aspect of their music I've sorely missed being in the spotlight), and since MANIA's release the band has had four years to solidify this new sound. Part of this hope is probably naive optimism and maybe some denial, because I really, really don't want start clarifying my love for FOB the same way I have to for the Arctic Monkeys.